Heaven

Nathan had a dream the other night. He dreamt that he was being chased by a terrible monster, and the monster caught him. Then, he realized that his body was done for, so he left, he just floated up, and as soon as he was out of sight of his body, he realized how blue the sky was and how bright the sun was. He could see the earth beneath him, green and beautiful, and growing smaller as he floated higher and higher. Then, he looked up. He saw the bottom of the clouds, golden and full of light, and realized that Heaven was just beyond. Then, he woke up. He said nothing specific woke him up, he said it was almost as if God said "Nope, you can't see any further just yet..."

After he told me about his dream he said "What if that's what it's like? You don't really die at all, you just go on living without your body. It was as if the earth was a great weight tied to my feet, and as soon as I was free from it, it was amazing. I think that's how it will be."

This morning in church we sang one of my favorite songs, "Be Thou My Vision." The last verse says "...High King of heaven, my victory won, May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O ruler of all." Nate's voice caught and his eyes filled with tears. Then he looked meaningfully at George, sitting between us. George is coming very close to realizing the truth of the Gospel. He's been asking lots of questions lately, and he and Nate talked about it at bedtime for a long time the other night. It makes Heaven more of a reality, I think, to imagine being there with your children.