A Little Taste of Heaven

Cindy and I have been on the beach for a couple of weeks this summer.  We had a great time.  We always do.  Oceanside has become a holy place—a time to walk, to talk, and to reconnect (of course there’s plenty of seafood as well!).  God meets us there.  That’s always a good thing.

Then there is the “people watching.” It can be done in a myriad of places—the mall, the airport—but none quite like the beach.  Again, we saw all sorts of people—young and old, fit and not so fit….  You get the picture.  Sometimes, of course, you see a lot more than you might prefer!

At least two things became clear to me this trip.  One, I’m not nearly as “big” (translated “overweight”) as I often consider myself.  There are some “tremendous” bodies out there!  Two, I am older than I care to admit.  Every other passerby who spoke to us or waiter who served us did so more often than not as “sir” or “ma’am.”  After years of vacationing on the gulf coast, we now walk closer towards the sunset than the sunrise.

Looking back at the “footprints in the sand” is a trail of joy and sorrow—miles and miles of each.

I don’t know about you, but every once in a while I need a little taste of heaven on earth—just a reminder, some time spent walking and talking.  I need those moments when heaven breaks through here—a little bit of heaven on earth.

The movie, Places of the Heart, starring Sally Field, begins in a church with people singing the old hymn, “This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior, all the day long.” The movie ends in the same church with people singing the same song.

In between, Sally Field’s husband has been killed, her faithful farmhand is beaten up and driven away, and she nearly loses her farm.  But, in the end, they are all back in that little church singing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! O what a foretaste of glory divine!”

A life, a story, of joy and sorrow.  Thank God for a little bit of heaven here on earth.  We can all stand a little taste now and then.  Thank you, Lord.

Question:  What do you do and where do you go for a little taste of heaven?  What has become a holy place for you?