The Valley Yet to Be

Some say dreams come and go.  The darkness gives them life and the light chases them away.  Some are indeed so fleeting they are ever forgotten, but some come and never go away.  They linger in the waking hours, they tantalize the soul with unseen realities, and keep our minds captivated in the mystery.  A dream came the other night, or maybe, it should be said, it came in the twilight between here and there.  It was a dream filled with visions of a valley so rich in color and so full of a morning light that was coming that I knew it was a dream of a valley yet to be.  It was like a freshly painted portrait so full of coming light that I knew the valley of my dream was called heaven.    

Perhaps, the dream came in the night it came because of the nearness of the night to the day of All Saints and my thoughts racing toward it.  The list of saints on the other side grows longer with the passing of each year.  I have heard it said by some that there are more friends and family on the other side of the veil than on this side where sight prevails over faith.  As the years continue to bring us to more and more moments of saying farewell, I am beginning to see what is ahead more clearly.  What is ahead is not just that moment when others here will say farewell to me as one gone from here, but instead I know that what is ahead is "a homeland...a better country, that is a heavenly one."  (Hebrews 11:14-16).   

What we learn from our journey from the womb of conception to the heavenly Home is that life is so very precious.  What makes it so precious is the grace of God which for some mysterious reason continues to provide the amazing gift of being here.  Being here makes it possible for us to love and to be loved which is another precious gift.  Being loved and loving enables us to see beyond ourselves and if we learn to look far enough, we begin to catch glimpses of those who have finished the course of this life and the beauty which awaits us in the valley yet to be.