I saw “Heaven Is For Real” today (4-19-14) with Wendy and Stephanie. I loved it. We all did. Very real and from a true story that got lots of publicity. What is surprising and yet not so surprising is why a believing community would have such difficulty believing heaven is a real place. That is what happened to the pastor, his family, and people in his church. It’s hard to believe in true goodness,…… if we look at what’s happening around us.
Ironically, great belief stems from believing in what is not happening around us, and in not believing what only our eyes can see. So in the film a 4-year old boy sees what is not here, and he shares this with those who are here. Controversy begins as the boy describes the details of a wonderful place ….. Heaven.
One thing about we humans that I got from seeing the film is what has happened to each of us personally effects our beliefs. Our beliefs effect our kindnesses, prejudices , loves, our likes and dislikes. Most of us build a point of view on things based on our own experiences that are very personal. Maybe that is the way it should be, but our personal small world and its prejudices are not enough to understand what we need to understand.
The answers to life and its greater questions are bigger than any of us.
“He lives” and a child knows this.
I so feel for the hardness and cynicism that exists today. Ironically I know I have contributed to this hardness too. What has saved me, and the hope for all who are saved from this hardness, is to get out from under it.
Heaven is that far away place that is so close. So very close. It’s not the ideal I speak of.
Its not a child’s fairy tale or the Easter bunny nor is it Santa Claus. Ideals can have a place if we see them as not real. Problem is what happens after the fairy tale. A child grows old and the ideal fails him, fails her.
I used to say a cynic is an idealist turned inside out. Idealism is a trap. There is no way out but to replace the ideal and to find the real. The Real Thing.
Heaven is for real. It’s more than a movie – it’s for us now forever for you me, for those you love, and for those you hate. We do not all attain heaven, but we all qualify. There is not one who has not been forgiven. “My Yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
When we do our acting drills for our actors, we find where we are each boxed in, afraid, angry, and frustrated . We endeavor to be released.
We say learning is unlearning. Unpacking makes the travel lighter. We all qualify for heaven. We have to want to go. The only price is to travel light. “I am light of the world.” A child understands this. There is nothing more beautiful to see than a grown man or woman set free into a new childhood. A permanent one too. Choosing to find his or her answers to be out of this world. And yet more real, solid ,and permanent than this world could ever be.
The only hope for any in this world is “on earth as it is in heaven.” Heaven is the real reel. It’s more than a movie. It’s more than a career could ever accomplish.
“I am the way, the Truth and the Life.”
The more you die – the higher you fly.
Happy Resurrection Day!
