Prayer of Hope

" The hills and valleys of heaven will be to those you now experience not as a copy is to an original, nor as a substitute is to the genuine article, but as a flower to the root, or the diamond to the coal."

C.S. Lewis said this and I think is a beautiful description of heaven.

I have long believed in heaven and as an artist and spiritual person, I think of the God of my understanding, as being the Great Creator, the Great Artist of all. Life can be very difficult, but as Abraham Lincoln said, " Most people are as happy as they make up their minds to be."

I'm not interested in platitudes about heaven and happiness, but I do believe these quotes resound loudly and true within my heart of hearts. This may seem saccharin to many today as we live in a cynical and spiritually bankrupt world.

I have long held the belief in heaven, which was imparted to me by my late mother, brother and father who were people of faith, in the God they understood and loved. Having a belief in heaven presupposes a belief in God, but I am not here to try and convince anyone. All manner of attempting to convince another is quite useless I think, as this belief in the God of our own understanding is what we come to believe and understand, through our own experience.

Why talk of death? I think often about life, and why things happen to human beings, some folks seem to have more than their share of suffering. There is always some one far worse off than you, and we can't always understand or know what another's burdens are, but be assured they carry them, regardless of how happy they appear.

I try to look for the lessons to be learned, and know from my own life, I have learned more about living through the death of the ones I love, in their weaknesses and strengths, gained and rose above, not in spite of, but because of the things they endured. They found strength in their weakness.

Today, I have a choice. I can be optimistic, positive, and a hopeful person of faith or I can be pessimistic, negative, and cynical which will leave me thinking life is without purpose, meaningless and without hope of a life in a heavenly home.

I have chosen faith, hope and love. I don't have to let go of this earthly cord before I can experience these, which I believe to be the stuff of what heaven is made.