Heavenly Things.

When I was a kid, my Mom used to keep classical piano music playing throughout our house. We had an intercom system, so she would time it to play softly up to our rooms to wake us up in the mornings and to accompany us as we played on Saturdays. Thusly, many of my childhood memories have that soft music as their soundtrack.

Our good friends came to visit us this past weekend and we found ourselves in a discussion about heaven. We talked about the Garden of Eden and of perfection and of the beautiful things that God has created. The discussion then moved towards heavenly things. We talked about how we hoped for heaven, and realize that perhaps there are things here that God has given us as small glimpses of the heavenly life. Like relationships and the beauty of creation. It was a concept I hadn't really thought about before, that perhaps God had given us things here as tiny whispers of things eternal. Things that barely scratch the surface of what we will someday see, but things that nonetheless can take our breath away, if we let them. After they left, my husband and I sat outside that evening, listening to the wind in the trees and the chirping of crickets and frogs, and my mind wandered to the idea that these were, possibly, heavenly things. The essence of them, at least--peacefulness, quietness. The joy of being together. Things so pure and whole that only a loving God could have created them.

And again I think about my childhood and that music. And I think that my Mom, unbeknownst to her, was introducing something of a heavenly thing for my brother and I, as much as it was in her power to do so, surrounding our little lives with beautiful music. Peacefulness, quietness, beauty--our feeble human attempt to capture grace. And it makes me wonder if I do the same for my home. We pray. We read the Bible. But am I fostering the kind of space that allows for heavenly things to be seen? Or do I forget small details and allow the rush of the day to dictate the moments in our home?

Whichever is true, my hope is for the former, not the latter.

Just some thoughts today.

Have a lovely day.