Heavenly Thoughts

I have never been one to be too occupied with thoughts about heaven, but in different ways I have been bumping into it all my life.  My first thoughts about it came at age seven when my father died.  It is also true that preachers preached more about heaven in those days than today's preachers who regard being other worldly as one of the seven deadly sins of the pulpit.  As I have gotten into the seventies, I have a growing list of family and friends who have headed to heaven ahead of me.  All of this came to mind today as I worshiped and shared in liturgy focused on All Saints Sunday.   

Apparently, I am not the only one in recent years to give some thought to heaven. Back in 2014 a movie called "Heaven is for Real" hit the big screens of the world.  The budget for the film was $12 million and it made a little over $100 million in a four week run at the theater.  Regardless of what we think about such a movie, a lot of people had enough interest to line up at the box office.  I am one of those who confesses up front to not knowing much about heaven, but I do believe it is not going away.  Without meaning to be simple or profound, it is here, or maybe it is there, to stay.  It defines eternity.  Of course, whatever we know about heaven, we know by faith.  Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen..."   

As a boy who was separated from his father too abruptly to say good-bye, I hoped for heaven.  As an adult who chose to become a follower of the Christ whose earthly life ended not with death, but with an empty tomb, I live with a conviction in what cannot be seen.  I love to remember the song Sandi Patti used to sing which declares that "We shall behold Him."  The faith which continues to grow in me tells me it is true.  The One who said He was going from our midst to prepare a place for me and you can be trusted to keep His word.