Sunday, July 10, 2011

Shower Doors Opening in Heaven

The sermon at our church led into the topic of whether we will recognize one and other when we get to Heaven, leading me to a memory that I have from so long ago and bending my mind to what I believe on the subject of Heaven.

In January of 1995, on a Sunday night, I was giving our 19-month-old daughter, Molly, a bath. Over the weekend, we had just moved into a new home and so Molly was enjoying a new tub. This particular tub was also a shower and it had the frosted glass shower doors attached to the tub. Our previous tub did not have these and so our daughter was fascinated by them. As she sat in the tub, I would pull the door closed and then open it again,  "Peek-A-Boo" with a shower door. After a few times, she learned that she could do it to me. She would close the door and then wait. Then the game evolved to her just wanting to close the door if I opened it. Then she would put her little face up against the glass and try to see if I was still there. And, I would see the outline of her. I couldn't see her completely, just the outline of who she was. And she would see my outline--and giggle.

I remember this bath time as clearly as if it was last night. Perhaps the reason I remember this so clearly is because it was just two days later that she was gone. Gone to be in the presence of the Lord. And, then it was just a few weeks later that I was sitting in that same tub on a cold February night--trying to erase the chill of grief--and staring at those doors. I was thinking of that special time of Mother and child and I was imbedding that memory into my mind. I wanted to hold onto it, to remember it forever. 

And, I don't know why, but that night, God used those doors to help me have a little better understanding of Heaven. While here on earth, I use my eyes and my ears to recognize those I know and love. When my family returns from a trip, I see them coming down the escalator at the airport and so I quickly approach them, ready to love on them. I use my eyes to know my family, because God has equipped me with vision. When someone in my home comes through the door, they drop their keys in the glass bowl on the hutch--I hear the keys and I say, "Hello?" And the "Hello" that returns tells me who has arrived. I recognize my loved one's voice because this is the tool for earth. In Heaven, I will use more. 

We are living our lives looking at each other through frosted glass shower doors. We can see each other--somewhat. We can make out enough of the outlines that we know who we want to approach and who we do not. But, when we are in the presence of the Lord and we are stripped of these bodies and living in our perfect bodies it will be as though the door had slid open and we can finally see each other. The enhancement of our spiritual nature will out weigh our physical side.

Will I recognize Molly in Heaven? Yes. The glass door will slide open and her perfect body will show WHO she is completely. No more distractions by shadows of aging. No cloudy outlines of an infant verses the elderly--just who she is.

"There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; 
but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, 
and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. " 
1 Corinthians 15:40

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