"Arise, Shine, For Your Light Has Come"

Dear Friend,

This is about you. Really. However, it's from my viewpoint. 

The writer of today's title was saying something that was about others, not himself. It was from his viewpoint about something he had seen. 

That's what I want to tell you about today. This is the first December since 2007 in which I won't be sitting in an infusion chair. Frankly, it seems a bit odd. Those times were times when others had figuratively wrapped their arms around me and provided care. Even though I've been back to "normal" for slightly over a year, sometimes....

However, their work and support got me to where I am now. Now, I need to honor their work by continuing to step out into the world and deliver to others what was given to me. 

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook page today: "I love it when someone helps me perceive generally accepted concepts differently, revealing deeper truths . This is from Ben Campbell, Pastoral Director at Richmond Hill. 

   The Last Judgment is a teaching about heaven and hell, but it is not what you think. Jesus' parable at the end of Matthew where the sheep and the goats are divided defines heaven and hell. Heaven is a place where people live in community, taking the lives of the others in their community as seriously as they take their own. Hell is a place where people don't care about one another. 

   Heaven and hell are immediately at hand. Both are experienced in daily life. Hell is always in danger of swallowing us up. Heaven is always available, in the twinkling of an eye, in the awakening of a conscience, in the opening of a mind."

I have seen the shining light. I have glimpsed into heaven countless times in the last few years. I think that it's important to not only be open to take looks into heaven, but maybe spend some time there, learn some things, deliver them to the world, go back again and keep delivering back to the world.
 

You don't need to immediately start doing it on your own. The only thing you need to start doing is to be open to knowing that you are going to see and experience some pretty amazing moments. Then, at some point, if you decide to listen, the trumpet shall sound.

"Let the moment go...
Don't forget it for a moment, though.
Just remembering you've had an 'and',
When you're back to 'or',
Makes the 'or' mean more
Than it did before.
Now I understand-
And it's time to leave the woods." - Stephen Sondheim