At my wife’s memorial service three years ago I began by sharing a quote from one of Mark Twain’s last writings. He depicted Adam as an old man kneeling beside Eve’s grave and saying, “Where she was – there was paradise.” In his old age, even that naturally cynical writer recognized that love can bring a bit of heaven to earth.
At our weekly breakfast meeting, one of my brothers in Christ shared that he recently came to the realization that Jesus didn’t just come to make a way for us to enter heaven some day when we die. He brought heaven down to earth with Him. His love and ministry give us more than a glimpse of heaven. He taught his disciples (and us) to pray for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. (Matthew 6:9-13) He told us and then showed us just how much God loves us. (John 3:16) He taught us and then demonstrated how to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our mind, (Matthew 22:37) and then to love others as much as we love ourselves. (Matthew 22:39) His life, death and resurrection not only opens the gates of heaven to all who believe, but allows us, in His name, to actually enter God’s presence while we are still here on earth. It has been my experience that as we worship, praise, petition and give thanks to our Heavenly Father in prayer and song, we experience as much heaven as our finite minds and earthly bodies can handle.
We say that we strive as Christians to become Christ-like, emulating Him in our words and deeds, but are we sharing a bit of heaven with everyone around us as He did? We don’t need to have influence over the entire world. We can share God’s love and our love with everyone in our corner of the world. When we do, we will give family, friends, neighbors and even our enemies a taste of heaven here on earth and with the help and prompting of the Holy Spirit, that appetizer can stimulate a hunger within them for more of heaven and of God’s love.
Jesus has shown us that love is not just an emotion. It is a way of life – His way of life – and ours as His followers.