It is more vital that you lift your head rather than bow it. Look up to Heaven rather than down to Earth. Don’t misunderstand, both are good, but you already look at world matters with a great deal of attention to detail. Give a little more time to looking up at the sky. Astronomers and lovers have the right idea. What are the stars like tonight? How is the moon doing? What is the depth of the sky? By day, what color is the sun, and how can one light be so bright? What would the sun tell you this day?
I tell you to till the soil, and look up at Heaven, the Heaven that poetically exists beyond the clouds. Keep your eye on Heaven, beloveds. Heaven is where it’s at.
On Earth you run and run. In Heaven, your eyes grow wider. Absorb Heaven. It is a mere hop, skip, and away from Earth. Actually, it is not away from Earth at all, yet it takes a leap of your heart. Earth seems so solid and safe to you, yet it is hollow. Heaven seems effervescent, yet it holds you up and is not ravaged by time and wear and tear. You don’t really need a safety net, beloveds, but, if you think you do, Heaven is it. Made of love, Heaven is stronger than steel. It is stronger than mountains. It is strength itself. Heaven outlasts. It has the last word. The first as well.
Even in terms of the vernacular, can you imagine a world without Heaven? Can you imagine a language without a word for Heaven? Every language has it. There would be such emptiness without a word for Heaven. Heaven exists, and it must exist. It must exist because it holds up the Earth. Earth could not be without Heaven. It is too awful to even contemplate a world without a Heaven.
The existence of Earth gives Heaven something to look at too, something to smile at. Heaven perhaps sees the people on Earth as at an ice rink, sees the skaters slip and fall, pick themselves up, brush themselves off, and skate some more, going around in circles as if they were following the shape of the Earth. A good time is had by all. Heaven applauds.
Now, let Earth applaud Heaven. Let Earth come right out and say, “Three cheers for Heaven. Heaven, hurray!” And then start weaving a ladder right away. Build it from damsels’ tresses or from the tears you have shed so that tears are put to good use. Or just leap up, or rise as you would if you were a balloon. Just get up here any way you can. Get your attention up here. That’s all that’s missing.
Heaven is high, but it is not far away. It’s true, it is within you. But sometimes you have to go the long way around. That’s okay. A winding path reaches here as well as a straight one. As a matter of fact, very few take a straight line to Heaven. They like to meander. Adventurous children, they stop to eat berries.
Heaven is all ready for you. It has put out the red carpet. It has a feast prepared, kept warm in the oven. Hot cross buns and the paschal lamb await you, and such fruits and vegetables that you have hardly dared dream of, and a dessert of manna. Do you smell the aroma beckoning you? Will you come now? All of Heaven is waiting out front for you. Come.