Image by Peace,love,happiness from Pixabay
Good friends Eleanor Ludlow and Velma Trent (11) and Eleanor's sister Andrew (10) all stood riveted by the sound from a car passing by on the road.
“ 'Who knew Heaven is a place on Earth?' – OK, I'm confused,” Velma said. “There's still Covid down here!”
“Who's available?” Eleanor said.
“Cousin Harry should be done briefing his Bible Study but still in study mode,” Andrew said, and the three children went to find Col. H.F. Lee, who literally had just gotten off his knees after his final preparation for the layman study he virtually led for veterans of Lofton County.
“That's deep,” he said when he got the children's question. “There's a lot going on in that song – but the first song about any song is that the hook section is supposed to get you to pay attention, so that happened.”
“But that's a scam!” Eleanor said. “If Heaven were a place on Earth, my parents would still be alive!”
Col. Lee stopped short, not challenging that for the moment and thanking the Lord for how to address that a little later.
“That is a classification of deceptive advertising, yes,” he said. “But there's more to think of there.
“At bottom, songs that are written like that are generally about moments of deep love for other human beings, and because no one has been to Heaven, they have no natural gauge to judge a joy that could be higher.”
“OK,” Andrew said, “I can work with that, because the day Papa finally got us all out of foster care and we could all be together, if I didn't know there was a Heaven, I'd go for it.”
“And,” Velma said, “we gotta accept that not everyone believes what we believes or studies how we all study.”
“And we need to respect everyone's right to their viewpoint, and understand they have a right to express it,” the colonel said. “What we do then, is take and examine it, and stay calm, because we respect our own beliefs and need not be moved or angered just because someone has a different belief. And this brings me to a deep matter that I can share with few – everyone is not ready.”
The three little ones leaned forward, and the colonel smiled.
“Heaven is God's dwelling place, but where else does God dwell?”
“In us,” all three said.
“It's the Holy Spirit,” Eleanor said.
“And does anyone remember the Fruit of the Spirit?”
“Love, joy, and peace,” Eleanor said.
“Gentleness, goodness, patience,” Andrew said.
“Faith, meekness, and self-control – it's like nine segments of an orange,” Velma said.
“OK,” the colonel said, “so if God dwells in Christians, and Christians live showing the Fruit of the Spirit that dwells in them, what on Earth is living around them going to be like?”
“Oh,” they all said.
“Like Heaven!” Velma said.
“Right … we are meant to be Heaven's embassy on Earth, with all its laws and rules in effect … so for some people, we are, when we are living as we are meant to live, the first taste of Heaven they ever experience, and the last.”
Eleanor teared up, and Andrew did too as he put his arm around her.
“Our parents still couldn't be here,” the boy said.
“And I have a ton of cousins – we couldn't let them in the embassy gates, because they would just bring their drugs and guns and mess it all up,” Velma said.
“It is said that 'Heaven is a prepared place for prepared people,'” the colonel said gently as he extended his arm around his cousins. “Even on Earth, we begin to see that not everyone can go, because they cannot give up what is not in accord with the laws of the land … but because the laws are in force here, my little sister in Christ, you can come get this hug too.”
Velma joined her friends in the comfort of their big cousin's embrace, and later on, they all talked about it.
“Do they even know they wrote a song that deep, though?” Velma said to Eleanor and Andrew.
“Probably they were more interested in false advertising,” Eleanor said, “but sometimes, things just hit deep.”
“Well, they kinda have to for us,” Andrew said, “because if we are Heaven's embassy on Earth, that's really kinda deep.”