While walking in my yard last evening, noisily pushing and crunching fallen oak leaves with my well worn tennis shoes, I was basking in the moon created shadows when suddenly, just for a moment, a chilling cold wind moved across my face. It was a taste of winter to come. It was a promise of snow to blanket the now slumbering earth. I could almost hear carols announcing the coming of the holidays and the gathering of loved ones.
Some might have cursed the cold harbinger that momentarily swept through the bare arms of the maples hovering overhead. Some might have wished for a flush of warmth to remind them of August nights. So much of life is focus. We can see the snot dripping from a small child’s nose or instead see the beauty of a child beginning the great adventure of life. We can see the mud tracks on the kitchen floor or instead see the wagging tail of someone thrilled to see us.
How often do we sit and wait for someone to make us happy when the happiness is already there waiting for us to but see it. Perhaps heaven is not just some distant place far away in the universe but also a place inside us.
Emily Dickenson once wrote, “So instead of getting to heaven at last, I’m going all along!” And Jesus said, “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21
Written by Roger Bothwell on November 8, 2003.
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