GLIMPSE OF HEAVEN

White Phantom Horses, Jamestown, NC

I woke up this morning a bit stiff after playing 18 holes of golf yesterday and then returning home to spend another four hours enjoying the arrival of cooler weather while working out in my yard.  With that in mind, it wasn’t a problem talking myself into driving to a local bakery for a bear claw and large coffee.  I passed through the neighborhood just as the sun had risen over the tree line and was casting its long horizontal rays over a neighborhood lake.

I had witnessed similar scenes before but this morning, like all mornings, was uniquely different.  So, I turned around, activated my emergency blinkers and parked by the side of the lake.  I was immediately greeted with a chorus of bird songs praising their Creator and celebrating the promise of a new day.  Their unique voices mingled across the placid waters, conjuring memories of entering Notre Dame Cathedral one Sunday morning in Paris and being blown away by the acoustics of the choir. 

And then it became apparent that a gentle breeze was herding white horses across the surface into a natural cove.  They were colliding and rotating heaven ward or back into the other direction away from me.  An occasional white horse made the U-turn in such a fashion that it evaporated into an upward death spiral.   The heat of the sunbeams ultimately dispersed the foggy phantoms as their dance is unrehearsed in shallow depressions and watery low lands.  And reflections of new leaf growth on the surrounding trees added an impressionist canvas to the overall scene.  A pair of Mallard ducks parted the still waters as they swam through the calm waters that remained in their wake.. 

I instinctively retrieved my omnipresent iPhone and began videoing and photographing the scene so that I took away only images in my mind and my trusty Apple vault.  That short glimpse of heaven was a wonderful aperitif before I had even enjoyed my first taste of coffee.     

 

ON THE OTHER SIDE

Charlie at the Door, JUMC, NC

 I took this photo of our security guard Glenn’s dog Charlie as Glenn had stepped inside our Fellowship Hall to secure the doors after this morning’s services.  Charlie was quietly laying down outside the hall, but quickly rose to wait outside the doors for his master.  He didn’t move a muscle until Glenn opened the doors to exit.

That image immediately called to mind a story I had read years ago and it perfectly illustrated that story.  As I recall, a sick man was inside an examination room with his doctor who had just revealed that the man had a terminal illness.  The patient remarked that he hadn’t spent much of his life trying to understand God or even contemplating what is on the other side of this mortal life.  So, he asked the doctor for his opinion.

The doctor put his hand on the room’s door handle and they heard a whining and scratching on the other side.  When the doctor opened the door, his dog jumped up to greet him.  Then the doctor remarked, “I don’t know a lot about what’s on the other side, but I have faith that my Master is there with open arms and that is enough.”   

Join us at JUMC every Sunday morning behind the outside doors to learn more about the Master on the other side!

THE INHERITANCE

JEWELS OF HEAVEN, NASA

The state of North Carolina presently has over $711,000,000 in unclaimed property in the care of the state treasurer.  Like most states, they have a website on the internet where one can go to sign in and check if they have claim to a variety of abandoned property such as bank accounts, wages, utility deposits, insurance policy proceeds, stocks, bonds, and contents of safe deposit boxes that typically have been abandoned for one to five years. 

  

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 2:9 that “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”  And yet many more people than live in North Carolina have left this inheritance on the table and not claimed it for themselves by simply following the teachings, life and death of the Son of God who walked among us over 2,000 years ago. 

Scripture directs us not to store up treasures on earth where rust and moths will destroy them, but to live our lives so that our promised treasure is waiting for us in the kingdom of heaven.  But we must have the conviction and faith in our heavenly Father as we face the challenges of life to claim this inheritance.

When God freed the Israelites from the bonds of slavery in Egypt, he showed them their inheritance in the promised land of Canaan that was occupied by 31 kingdoms.  These people were almost immediately incapable of seizing their inheritance and wanted to return to the perceived sanctuary of the Pharaoh of Egypt.  Hence, they wandered for forty years in the wilderness desert until another generation replaced them that was seasoned to seize the prize!  The generation of slaves no longer had the courage and vision for freedom under the sanctuary of their God.  They chose the easy path, even though it came with the price of slavery.  And people can be the slaves of many things, not just a Pharaoh in Egypt!

The next generation entered the promised land under the protection of their God, defeated those 31 kingdoms, and claimed their earthly inheritance.  That kind of resolute faith can now carry all of us on a path that leads to our eternal inheritance with our Heavenly Father!   

PORTALS

Terra Cotta Portal, Chicago, IL

The image above is looking through the historic Terra Cotta Row District boundary wall ornamentation in Lake View, Chicago along one of the walking routes where I took my grand dog Rosemary. Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright used these materials for many fabulous architectural refinements at the turn of the twentieth century. The view back in time into a formal rose garden through this terra cotta opening reminded me of the many portals that exist in the science fiction and fantasy worlds of creative minds. The concept also seems to be associated with the fascinating light tunnel experiences of over eight million Americans having near death experiences (NDE). And of course, most of us enter this world through the portal of the birth canal.

Mankind has conceived of portals linking different places in our universe, parallel universes, the past or the future, and afterworlds like heaven and hell. They can magically connect us via gateways and then can instantaneously transport us through space-time. Portals are considered similar to cosmological wormholes and some consider them as part of the medium. Portals on film are often portrayed using a ripple effect.

A tornado was the portal transporting Dorothy and Toto to the magical gardens in the Land of Oz and a rabbit hole deposited Alice in a Wonderland with fantastical anthropomorphic characters like a white rabbit with a pocket watch and the Mad Hatter at a tea party. A modified DeLorean DMC-12 sports car with a “flux capacitor” transported Michael J. Fox back to the future and a wardrobe armoire was the gateway to Narnia for four siblings into a world of endless winter. Movie franchises like X-Men and Star Trek go through portals where no man has gone before. An overgrown labyrinth is the center of a mythical world where a faun tests a young girl by instructing her to sacrifice her baby brother’s blood to open a portal to the underworld.

Recent developments in cardiac resuscitation techniques have resulted in a marked rise in people reporting a “tunnel experience” through portals into a heavenly, loving white light. Many report encountering beings of light and reunions with loved ones. Conversely, some report distressing experiences entering a black void, sensing a hellish force around them. They report a tormenting moral anguish at their own choices, behavior or attitudes and being separated from the Light Being.

These concepts of portals have captured the imaginations of mankind for centuries. NDE sojourners have been recorded as far back as the fourth century. It would seem that these glimpses into the portals of the human experience should give us all pause to reflect on the direction of our individual lives and the ultimate fate of our spiritual destiny.

LEAVING TO STAY FOREVER

Ascention, Jamestown, NC

Timothy Keller writes that after the Russians put a man into orbit in 1961, Russian Premier Nikita Khrushchev pronounced that “we didn’t see God, so we have proved there is no God”. Perhaps that comment was uttered with a tongue-in-cheek or perhaps Mr. Khrushchev simply had a mistaken view of heaven like so many others. We “gaze at the heavens” and look “heavenward”, up at the sun, moon and stars. When Jesus departed from this planet to prepare a place for us, he ascended into Heaven. But Keller reminds us that “He went into Heaven with a capital H. And that is something far more profound than an orbit in outer space”. And although He said His Father’s mansion had many rooms, I’m pretty sure he wasn’t talking about a humongous Motel 6 space station orbiting the earth either.

We talk about rocket ships blasting off into space or roofers climbing ladders, but we don’t normally say they ascended into a higher sphere. However, we do talk of a king or queen ascending to the throne to acquire a greater authority. And we know that our spiritual Creator transcends both time and space and is therefore timeless and omnipresent. But when the Son of God became flesh and entered this mortal world, He was bound to one place in time, like the rest of us human beings. When His transformed being ascended into Heaven, He entered into the sea of eternal spiritual consciousness in the presence of the Father. Which clarifies why he left and why we can be assured that He has fulfilled his promise to be with all of us always.

I’LL BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Holiday Home, Charleston, SC

A friend recently asked if I was comfortable living in “the south” after transferring here fifteen years ago. There is admittedly still a slight bit of tension between the natives and “northerners”. I suppose being from the Heartland of America and a “border state” during the War Between the States over 125 years ago gives me a free pass to walk the line. But quite frankly, I don’t waste much of my precious time on this planet obsessing about a difference of opinion between two factions of long dead folks that were on both sides of the fence. Most all of us have moved on.

But the question did give me pause to think about ever being too comfortable living anywhere. I’ve had the good fortune to travel over much of this expansive country and other parts of the world to know that I don’t really belong anywhere in particular. And I’ve read that perhaps we’re actually wired to understand that this planet and this mortal life is not our primary destiny. Rather, this life and this place are just a temporary environment to grow our spirits that transcend this existence. That nagging anxiety operating in the background has been instilled in us human beings to prompt us to seek out our final destiny while we muddle through the motions of this life. Have you ever noticed that anytime we seek out a comfortable niche in the world, life happens, and we’re jolted out of it before long? You can run from life but you can’t hide and it will seek you out and pull you screaming and kicking from your rabbit hole! Perhaps that’s why so many folks are in a state of constant disillusion because they’ve come to expect that comfort is their destiny rather than the challenges and pain that accompany growth and preparation for our ultimate home.

The Christmas holiday is a special time to seek out a warm and inviting home if you have one to go to. It’s a time of year when it’s good to have friends and family around. It’s a time for fireplaces, candle light, good food, warm wishes and fellowship. It’s a time for remembering Christmas’ past and those loved ones who gather near to us in spirit. It’s a time for celebrating the Christ child who never had a comfortable, permanent home, but prepared one for all of us. Nostalgic holiday music beckons us to come home for Christmas. And if our life circumstances do not allow us to go home for Christmas this year, we can always know that “I’ll be there, if only I stay in His presence”.

ETERNAL PRESENCE

Moon Reflecting Sun, Carolina Beach, NC

When Jesus states in John 3:16 that everyone who believes in him should not perish, he is referring to hell. The short one chapter book of Jude likens unbelievers as clouds without rain blown along by the wind, foaming wild waves of the sea, and wandering stars for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. Jesus tells of a rich man in hell who attempted to appeal to a beggar in heaven for relief, but the chasm between the two was impenetrable. It’s thought provoking to consider that if you were born in this great country of America, you are considered as rich by most of the world. One of the best definitions I’ve come across regarding the concept of hell is simply eternal separation from the love of our creator. We know that nature abhors a vacuum and once goodness is removed, evil replaces the void. Once light is removed, darkness fills the void. Jesus tells us that he is the light of the world.

One of the greatest benefits of being born in this age is our ability to fly into the heavens aboard commercial airplanes. On many occasions I’ve walked into an airport on a bleak and dismal winter’s day where the sky was overcast and dark. But just minutes later I was airborne and breaking out of the dense cloud cover into brilliant sunshine and dazzling white clouds that are illuminated from above. That experience is always a reminder that even on our darkest days, there is always a light presence even though there may be obstacles that obscure it from us at the time. And a normal night sky generally reveals the reflection of the sun from our moon as the earth completes another rotation on its axis and we are reminded that the light is still present.

I’m reminded of the human issue of SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. It’s now an acknowledged disorder that affects many of us in varying degrees during seasonal changes where sunlight is withdrawn from our presence. It manifests itself in the human psyche as a depressed feeling of hopelessness. The most common prescribed treatment for SAD is exposure to a bright light. One of the oldest questions asked by inquiring minds is “why would a loving God condemn someone to an eternal life of darkness in a state called hell”? The short answer is that he doesn’t—they volunteer. When the chosen people of Israel turned their back on God, His response was to simply respond in kind and withdraw his protection. Jesus says that in the final day, some will be confronted with the admonition, “I never knew you. Away from me.” Once we have breathed our last, our book of life is closed and the light may be extinguished forever. But there will be no need for a sun or a moon in the new earth, for God’s light will be then be present and unobscured forever.