When I was a little boy in Kindergarten it seemed like I would be there forever. Being in Kindergarten was everything to me. It was my life. I had my teacher and my friends that made up what I was at that time. It was what defined me. I was a kindergartener.
I remember how important it was to me to sit in a big chair. At the beginning of class we got to pick the chairs we would be sitting in for the day. It was a big deal. I didn’t want a small chair. Small chairs were for sissies.
Now fifty years have come and gone. I don’t care if I’m sitting in a big chair anymore. I just want one that will support me. I don’t look back to the time I was in Kindergarten. I remember my teacher’s name and some of my fellow students’ names and a few things that took place during that time, but generally speaking that’s over. That’s ancient history. I will never go back. The only person from that time that I have communicated with is a former classmate that contacted me recently who I have not seen for over twenty years. He was very happy to find me and I was very happy to hear from him. Even though our lives have taken different paths we are still on the same page. We picked up from where we left off fifty years ago like no time had gone by at all. It was like we had never been apart these past fifty years.
I was thinking about all this, this past weekend during my Uncle Junior’s funeral. I was imagining what he might be thinking about now that he was in a different place, a better place. What would he miss the most? Would it be something like me looking back at Kindergarten fifty years later?
The things that were important in Kindergarten have lost their attraction to me except for one. My former classmate, (his name is Donny), is just as real and alive to me now as he was back then. In fact because fifty years of life’s experiences have gone by our friendship is all that much deeper. We don’t relate to one another as kindergarteners anymore but as mature adults who have lived out most of their lives.
There are some who say when we go to Heaven we will not relate to each other in the same way. Some say we will not even recognize each other because we will be spirit beings, not earthly beings. I disagree. I believe whatever happens when we leave here we will know each other in a far superior way than we know each other now. The Bible teaches us that this earthly realm, this veil of tears, is wrapped up in spiritual darkness. We don’t see as clearly as we should. But it also teaches us that when we leave here we will enter into a realm of spiritual light, what we call Heaven. It’s my opinion we will relate to each other in a far clearer way than we do now. We will know each other much more intimately than we know each other now. When Jesus returned to see His disciples after He rose from the dead He told them He was not a spirit or a ghost. And he proved it to them. He told them to reach out their hands to touch His wounds. Then He ate lunch with them. It was if He had never left.
I’m convinced when we leave here many things that are important to us now will lose their value. We won’t care what chair we sit in anymore. We will have something far more important. We will have each other. We will know each other. We will know each other in a much deeper and more complete way. We will pick up from where we left off like nothing had happened. We will pick up from where we left off in a much more intimate way, a fuller way, and a higher way. We will be with our Lord. We will be with our loved ones. We will be with Frank. You will be with Frank. We will be home.
I love you Aunt Pat. It was an honor to be with you during this tough time. Love Mike
