You may think that when I titled this blog “What Does Heaven Look Like?” I would be explaining what I visualize heaven to look like when we die. Well that’s not what I am going to write about at all but actually the heaven here on earth. The heaven we see as we live each day but may not be observing.
There is a series on TV that is called “One Strange Rock” and it is a documentary about astronauts that have lived in space and what they recognized and realized while in space. One of the astronaut, Michael Massimino made a statement that when he was looking down from space and saw the earth he wondered if that was what heaven looked like.
He said, “I thought at one point, if you could be up in heaven, this is how you would see the planet. And then I dwelled on that and said, no, it’s more beautiful than that. This is what heaven must look like. I think of our planet as a paradise. We are very lucky to be here.” What a powerful observation. This was my inspiration for this blog.
I feel connected to what he is saying. I see so much beauty and wonder here on earth that creates a day-to-day heaven for me when I notice it. Please allow me to tell you about a few of these things.
The most recent recognition of heaven here on earth is my beautiful baby grandson. I am in such amazement when I look at him. Although my daughter and son-in-law physically made baby Levi, looking at him I see God’s way of putting heaven here on earth. Levi’s eyes are so expressive and I can see how deeply he is observing his surroundings. He will fixate his gaze on me when I talk to him, studying the sounds emanating from my mouth. How his little brain is working to process those sounds amazes me.
I can immediately feel Levi’s emotions through his eyes. They become big and bright when he is happy and deeper in color and smaller when needing attention in some way. When he is tired his eyelids become so heavy he fights to keep them open hoping not to miss anything. How can I not see this as heaven?
When I sit on a beach at sunset with a hundred hues of orange, pink and yellow on the horizon as the sun sets. There seems to be no end to the horizon and the colors mindlessly meld one into another. Everyday the sun rises and it sets. What a miraculous thing to me. I don’t have to give any thought or effort in making this happen. God handles this for us and allows me to see heaven in the sunset and the brilliant colors.
When I was greeting at church last weekend, I was touched again with a little bit of heaven. There was a deaf and mute girl in her early twenties that came to the door I was greeting at and was coming into church. I tried to make eye contact with her to word, “Good morning” to her but she kept her head down. She instead came up to me and hugged me, turned and entered our church. I tear up just thinking about it because she gave to me wanting nothing in return. She is living in a silent world but hears God and gave me a touch of heaven. I will never forget this unnamed angel.
When I feel a cool breeze on a hot day giving me relief from the hot sun I look at that as a bit of heaven. I listen to the breeze as it starts to wind up and progress into a cooling wind. I am hearing and feeling the breeze. This happens when the wind blows from the higher pressure over the water to lower pressure over the land causing the breeze. Another amazement that just happens without anyone’s earthly control.
Other things that I call heaven here on earth are rolling meadows with long, blowing grass, the flicker of a candle flame that mesmerizes me into thoughtless meditation, listening to small children laughing and playing on a playground carefree and innocent as well as my husband’s voice saying good morning as we wake up each morning side by side.
I guess the point I am trying to make is to recognize that we are not living our lives to someday die and be received into heaven but that we are already surrounded by our own earthly heaven. Appreciate living in this earthly heaven fully as a mortal so when you die and get everlasting life in another heaven you will have lived the best of both lives. Celebrate our daily heaven now and our future heaven when it is time.
“Heaven on earth is a decision you must make, not a place you must find.” Dr. Wayne Dyer
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