Looking beyond...

"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth."
​~ Colossians 3:2
​

I guess one of the things about working in the world of hospice, I seem to have more conversations about heaven than I do anything else. I realized that as I sat at a friend's birthday party for her three year old grandson on Saturday. I stepped away from the party momentarily to look at the bay that was next to the park. As I watched seagulls skim the edge for the water, and mallords make their way up the hillside to feed, I caught myself glancing across the water where the cloudy sky seemed to meet the water, and i suddenly found myself staring at heaven.

Of course mt idea about heaven has also changed over the years. When John walks through the wilderness proclaiming that the "Kingdom of God is at hand," I now suddenly realize that we often bump into it without noticing.

Our eyes, and for that matter, our entire self is so focused on our surroundings that at times we forget that eternity is actually our home.

I certainly don't want to rush its appearance, especially in my life at this time, but I do seem to discover it appearing in ways that I wouldn't expect.

The frost last week has left many of the plants in our area looking much different. Unlike the morning after a hurricane where leaves have been stripped from branches and water still receding, the entrance to eternity is already beginning with each new birth, and each season that we live.

​The writer of Colossians wants us to think about the things to come, and for us to long for it, or at least, begin to think of what eternity will hold for us. The words, "set our affection on heaven," reminds us to focus on having a relationship, or a feeling about what lies ahead.

Each day I meet people who suddenly realize that they must think beyond this lifetime, and for some it is not affection that they are experiencing. Sometimes it is about anger, fear, and the unknown that they are focused upon.

In any circumstance, we must befin to realize that heaven is also to be our home. Where we no longer need to prepare for an ending, but instead, to befin to live out our life, everlasting. For me, that is also about faith, hope and love.

With this being shared, Stay in God's grip!

G. Todd Williams (c) 2018