Sunday, June 10, 2007

uncertainty: heaven, family, relationships

After all the kids were in bed and I was talking with my Dad and Granddad, a young man came downstairs saying that his stomach hurt. He had that look - a little anxiety mixed with the pain - that begged me to probe a little.

He told me that he wasn't sure how to tell me what he had been thinking about. I explored his heart with a few questions? Then he began to talk. He had been thinking about heaven and family and relationships. What will heaven be like? Will we have family? Will there be relationships? The vacuum of understanding upset him. The possibility that family and relationships might not be a part of heaven frightened him.

The heaven question is more difficult to answer with great certainty. The family and relationship questions were much easier and more certain. His pain dissolved, not because of the certainty I think, but because we were together.

Thanks be to my Father who gave me the great joy of family and relationship with my son last night!

2 comments:

Ted Ancelet said...

What a sweet, sacred moment. Thanks for sharing, it is a reminder to seize those opportunities and really live!

Anonymous said...

It's times like these that make me celebrate fatherhood - I love it!