Sunday, July 27, 2014

Dearest God,

Judy died and so yesterday we celebrated her life.  We remembered her.  We laughed at some of her antics. We gave thanks for her generous spirit.  We recalled her strong faith.  We sang her favorite hymns.

What inspired me most was a simple line she said to her husband just before she died.  "Meet me later at heaven's gate."  All during the rest of the day I pondered heaven's gate.  I thought about it not only as the opening to heaven but also the fence, if you will between heaven and earth.  It is the line one cannot cross until you call; however, I came to the conclusion that often we are afforded the opportunity to stand at heaven's gate.  When we feel your loving presence so close we could breathe you into ourselves, I believe we are standing at heaven's gate.  When we truly worship with our whole being, we stand at heaven's gate. When we pray fervently and we sense an answer brewing, we stand at heaven's gate.  When you pour out your grace upon us and we know the source of our joy, we stand at heaven's gate.  When we feel the need to humble ourselves and confess our mistakes, we stand at heaven's gate.  When we are welcomed back home after a time away, we stand at heaven's gate.

Throughout our lives you invite us to heaven's gate where we can peer into heaven, see its blessing, feel its mercy, and taste its spirit food.  You examine our needs and comfort us at heaven's gate, send us on our way, and remind us that we can visit at any time.

I think the whole congregation stood at heaven's gate yesterday...all together.

Make us worthy
to stand
at your gate,
Loving Father.
Show us
the way
to a
rich, fulfilling life
where we
live out
your will,
I pray.
Thanks for
the peeks
of heaven.

Love, Andrea