Tag Archives: Heaven

Heavenly Applause

Posted on by

Can’t you just hear the angels clapping when we get something right down here on earth? Scripture gives us some insight into this business of clapping our hands and so we know that it is not merely a human trait.

Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. Psalm 47:1

Let the rivers clap their hands,
Let the mountains sing together for joy. Psalm 98:8

“For you will go out with joy
And be led forth with peace;
The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you,
And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12

Psalm 134:2. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. (This doesn’t exactly exemplify clapping but I’m sure you get the picture.)

And then there’s that great children’s song from the fifties:

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you’re happy and you know it, and you really want to show it;
If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!

Happy Sunday.

Grace, Dignity and Love

Posted on by

Another of my church friends climbed the stairway to heaven yesterday, leaving behind happy memories in the wake of grief. Joanne’s husband, daughters, family and friends will miss her smiling face and gentle ways for a long time to come but will take comfort in knowing that she will be as loved in heaven as she was here on earth.

Dying has to be one of life’s most grievous tasks, and yet, as we all know, it is inevitable.

May we all take consolation in knowing that this dear lady faced the end of life as she had always faced life itself, with grace, dignity and love.

Called Home

Posted on by

Another of our church members and friend was called home to Heaven yesterday. Bill was in his one hundredth year and would have completed it in five months.

I happened to read Hebrews 9:15 this morning, For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—

It made me question who are the called and suddenly the thought of Bill came to mind. I’m sure the scripture has another meaning but I am comforted that my immediate reaction was that he was called home.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. Rev. 21:4

Just Imagine

Posted on by

Just imagine a life free from crime, cruelty, terrorism, injustice, hatred, devastating accidents of all kinds, uncaring people of all kinds also. Imagine no harsh words, no grudges, nobody turning their back to anyone. Just imagine a life encompassing the complete opposite of these all too common deeds. Wouldn’t it be great to live in a perfect world? Just imagine. Happy Saturday.

How To Bring Heaven On Earth: Using The King's Power And Authority ...

A Glimpse of Heaven

Posted on by

I have come to the conclusion that we need not have a near death experience to get a glimpse of heaven. We get many glimpses of heaven right here on earth. Take for example:

Seeing newborn baby

The look of love in the eye of the beholder

People walking hand in hand (especially the very old and very young)

Devoted pets

Observing the universe; sun, moon, stars, galaxies,

The methodical movement of waves on a beach,

The sparkle of sunlight on rippling waters

The first words of an Autistic child who has been speechless for years

An occasional embrace from said child

The feeling of wellness after an illness

The healing of a strained relationship

The calm after the storm

Crocuses breaking through snow covered soil

Walking where Jesus walked

Answered prayers

Heavenly hugs

As you take time to catch a glimpse of your own heaven on earth, cherish the experience, and know that the best is yet to come.

 

 

 

Do You Believe It?

Posted on by

In Soul Stories, a book by Gary Zuvak, he wrote, among other things, “Believe that when you ask a question you always get an answer.” I don’t know why, but the question I asked was, “Where am I from?”

I was led to a meditation site online from a note I had taken on a television program a few nights earlier. The meditation that day was titled “Home”. It suggested that I am from another dimension, one of peace, and light, and silence. This explains my love of silence…I bask in it when stillness seems to envelop me from time to time.

At different times in prior years I had written poems, one titled,” A New Dimension” where becoming aware of the things we usually ignore opens our eyes to what’s around us. “The Journey” depicts a life of love and serenity.

To my mind, heaven is another dimension and perfectly fits the description above…love and serenity.

If I had ignored the prompting to take a note from a television program, I would not have been aware of the online meditation that gave me a fairly apt description of “where I am from”.

I attribute the inspiration for “The Journey” to a surgeon who many years ago released me from hospital with these words, “Live, love, and be happy.” And this is precisely my life today.

Do you believe it?

A Heavenly Tribute

Posted on by

“A hockey stick-shaped cloud seen in Saskatoon and shared by Canadian hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser is being regarded as a tribute to the victims of the Humboldt Broncos bus crash that killed 16 people.” This is a news clip I saw on Twitter last night and I find it very comforting.

 Look up at the heavens and see; gaze at the clouds so high above you. Job 35:5  NIV

Just For Now

Posted on by

One hour after her eightieth birthday, Barbara was blowing out candles in heaven. It was one birthday her husband and daughters could not attend physically, but be sure they were wishing her well in the midst of their own grief.

Two months after his one-hundredth birthday, Bob traded in his wheelchair on earth for a chariot in heaven. Bob’s birthday party was well attended and a resounding rendition of “Happy Birthday to You” filled the auditorium of St. Andrew’s Scarborough where both Bob and Barbara had attended for many, many years.

Yes, in January we at St. Andrew’s bade farewell to two more of our dearly loved members; people who not only attended the church but attended to the church in so many ways over the years.

We were one month into the new year when Barbara and Bob climbed that stairway to heaven, following in the footsteps of the many who had gone before them. We at St. Andrew’s who love our people deeply, also grieve deeply when they answer that final call to “Come Home.”

Although they leave behind two separate families who miss them, they also leave behind one church family who misses them also.

And so we say not “Good-bye” to Barbara and Bob, but “Just for now.”

 

Optimism vs Pessimism

Posted on by

In Tune With the Infinite is a wonderful go-to book written by Ralph Waldo Trine and for the next few days or so I am going to offer excerpts of his wisdom starting today with the Prelude of this great book.

The optimist is right. The pessimist is right. The one differs from the other as the light from the dark. Yet both are right. Each is right from his own particular point of view, and this point of view is the determining factor in the life of each. It determines as to whether it is a life of power or of impotence, of peace or of pain, of success or of failure. 

The optimist has the power of seeing things in their entirety and in their right relations. The pessimist looks from a limited and one-sided point of view. The one has his understanding illumined by wisdom, the understanding of the other is darkened by ignorance. Each is building his world from within, and the result of the building is determined b the point of view of each. The optimist, by his superior wisdom and insight, is making his own heaven, and in the degree that he makes his own heaven is he helping to make one for all the world beside. The pessimist, by virtue of his limitations, is making his own hell, and in the degree that he makes his own hell is he helping to make one for all mankind.

You and I have the predominating characteristics of an optimist or the predominating characteristics of a pessimist. We then are making, hour by hour, our own heaven or our own hell; and in the degree that we are making the one or the other for ourselves are we helping make it for all the world beside.

The word heaven means harmony. The word hell is from the old English hell, meaning to build a wall around, to separate; to be helled was to be shut off from. Now if there is such a thing as harmony there must be that something one can be in right relations with; for to be in right relations with anything is to be in harmony with it. Again, if there is such a thing as being helled, shut off, separated from, there must be that something from which one is held, shut off or separated.

Now, we all know people who are either or optimists or pessimists, including ourselves. As for me, I am always pessimistically optimistic; meaning that that which I desire to materialize will do so with a hint that it also may not.

 

Stand By Me

Posted on by

On Thursday I attended another end-of-life celebration. A dear friend in her 95th year had been declining for a few years after breaking a hip which never completely healed. This robbed her of her active life and eventually landed her into a long-term-care facility where each year she longed to be closer to her Maker.

Not long ago as I entered her room for a visit she called out, “Oh, Pat. I’m still here and I don’t know what to do.” “Well, Carol,” I replied, “there is a long line of people waiting at the gates of Heaven and you will just have to be patient and wait your turn.”

Carol had been very active in our church and community for over sixty years and as one of our elders, cared deeply for those in her care. She, too, had been a comforting visitor to many people and had seen many of her friends climb that stairway to heaven.

I had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting her two sons and daughter on many occasions while visiting Carol. Their love for their mother was very evident in the way they each attended to her needs at various times. There was affection, gentle chiding, wholesome conversation and endless hours of just being with her. They were always standing by her side.

Yesterday I heard that wonderful song, “Stand by Me” and it brought tears to my eyes as Carol and her devoted family came into my mind.

Don’t we all need somebody to Stand by Me? Enjoy this rendition from many parts of our world and have a Happy Saturday.