A Little Bit of Heaven

God destines us for an end beyond the grasp of reason. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica

Joy is to be found in Heaven now by anticipation and later by realization. Joyful are those people who have two feet upon the earth, but who breathe Heaven’s air. Steven J. Lawson, Heaven Help Us!

I am certain that whatever my anticipatory picture of how life will be in Heaven, it is heavily flawed.   If it were fully known how life would be there perhaps, like the apostle Paul, we would be more anxious to go now than would serve God's purposes here on Earth.  As it stands, God gives moments of peace and pleasure and shared love here, I think, both as a reason to remain and as a foretaste of life to come. Last week Jason (my eldest son) and I were privileged to have one of those moments.

We traveled to North Carolina to visit with friends that we first met in 1977 during my fellowship at Duke. We were only in Durham for two years, but the bonds of friendship that grew from those years has been sustained for 36 years, through years of camping together in at least eight states, from attending weddings in Durham, Athens, and Birmingham, and through the constant contact that electronic means of communication provide.

I think one of the true measures of friendship is the ease of being in one another's presence.  Though I had not seen any of them in several years, there was an ease of renewal that defies explanation except on a supernatural basis--I believe that God gives us those kinds of friendships as a reminder of His charity to us in redeeming us for Heaven.  The inability to fully express the emotion of those times is a reflection of the inexpressible nature of gifts of God that go beyond our full comprehension--if we could fully express all that it means, the largeness of the time would be somewhat diminished.  Such will be Heaven.

I know that in time we will be brought together again, perhaps for another wedding as the third generation matures and begins adult life, more likely for a funeral as our first generation ages into the reality of that eventuality.  But whether in joy of a new beginning or in sorrow for a separation (for a while), there is a comfort in the reminder that these visits bring:  that these moments, full of love and laughter, feasting and play, are brief glimpses of what eternity, in part, will hold.

C. S. Lewis comments (in Mere Christianity) that a three year old would have a very hard time being convinced that anything could be better than chocolate and that adults wonder how anything could be more pleasurable than that provided by sexual relations.  I find myself wondering how anything in Heaven could be more warming and satisfying than being with old friends in a beautiful location, but I have faith that all of us, the three year old, we adults in general and those who gathered this past weekend at Hyco Lake will be astounded at what God has in store that will cause all of these pleasures to pale by comparison.

So, the final reminder for myself: enjoy the momentary joys that are a foretaste.  But do not grasp them in a manner that makes an idol of the creation.  Like daily manna in the wilderness that was replaced by the milk and honey of the Promised Land, the momentary joys of the present are not to be grasped as a means of sustaining them but released so that our hands can reach for the final prize--being in the eternal presence of God the Father and His Son--Heaven.

Come now, Lord.

It becomes us to spend this life only as a journey toward heaven . . . to which we should subordinate all other concerns of life. Why should we labor for or set our hearts on anything else, but that which is our proper end and true happiness? Jonathan Edwards, “The Christian Pilgrim”

For three things I thank God every day of my life: thanks that he has vouchsafed me knowledge of his works; deep thanks that he has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep, deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to—a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song. Helen Keller