My friend Mary, whom I’ve known for more than 65 years, called me recently. She was born in Ireland and was brought to this country by an aunt and uncle to have back surgery. This was not a simple procedure and so she wound up staying in America to recuperate and be educated in the best possible ways.
Her aunt and uncle raised her to become a very successful woman, and they had a wonderfully loving relationship with her all their lives.
Mary lives alone now and is not able to get around easily any more. Her friends tease her about ignoring advice to not go out for walks on her own.
The night before New Year’s Eve, she told me, she had a very vivid dream. Her uncle, who was devoted to her his entire lifetime, was standing nearby and just above her. She saw him very clearly. He looked at her tenderly but with great concern. He had a hint of sadness on his face but said nothing.
Did she pay attention? No, of course not. Did she stop to consider that this was a message from God and a glimpse of heaven from which she was to learn? No, she went out the door for a walk the very next morning to attend Mass at a nearby church. Doing exactly what all her friends had asked her not to do, and in spite of the warning in her dream, she fell down and was taken by ambulance to a hospital and rehab center for a nice long stay.
We speak often of the glimpses of heaven people experience at the bedside of those who are dying. We marvel at the wonderful ways God makes himself known to us every day. I wonder how often we think about the fact that the God who created us simply never leaves us. From conception until our earthly death and beyond, we are his. His to love and his to draw home when the time comes. And his to spend eternity with.
We might never be able to fathom the awesomeness of this God, who is so intimately involved in our daily lives and never leaves us. It would behoove us to pay close attention to all the ways he communicates with us and catch the many ways he gives us “glimpses of heaven” He wants us to see.
