Heaven

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Seven years ago I was asked by a friend if I was "religious and if I believed in God?" As a (formerly) practicing agnostic I quickly answered:"no." However, I defended myself by explaining that I lived my life according to universal principals of "right and wrong" (as I understood them). Because I believed that our deeds create a lasting effect on the world, I felt confident in my everlasting future. In other words, I wasn't worried about there being a heaven or not. I told my friend that when I die, I am banking on knowing that my impact on the world will be ever lasting. My "heaven" will ultimately be the creation of the the sum total of all my actions.
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# H+ s7 ]- \3 z) `0 P+ b1 g' J& a) h$ c I will never forget my friend's response: he looked at me with glassy eyes, and told me how deeply spiritual I was. I didn't see it. It took five more years to see what he meant. Such was the inspiration of the following poem I wrote.

Heaven
0 f- q7 G' A' e! I' i The pebble is worn smooth
Made small over time
A product of a cataclysmic force of nature
A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock
An accidental offspring of a boulder
But just a very small stone.
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1 P9 t& s+ ^' a2 A; J7 {8 f4 n/ P8 y The pebble's place in our world
) ^* E$ D" Q4 M0 R7 F/ C Is neither understood nor appreciated
- T; R6 l" D$ d- Q* n' ~) m" w But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
6 G5 V/ b9 |- C6 J* P  `" N, y% ^5 Q Its insignificance is transformed
Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.
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; I) @! O6 {# c, b# Q The instant the pebble kisses the pond
, T- ^" F9 }) f. b# D. f Its signature of concentric ripples
Spiral outwards
Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
+ M2 C8 F- b2 _/ Q/ N1 k Forever altering the smooth placid surface.
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The pebble creates its worth and meaning
By unleashing its unimagined power?
Into a dueling force of action and reaction
Creating karmic energy
3 e" u+ \( R1 b  B$ W) k Producing lasting and fluid impressions.

Aren't we all pebbles?
Feeling small and insignificant
5 x) B9 @  K) f* h+ K But ultimately recognizing
That who we are meant to be
Can never be measured in isolation
on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:
Our everlasting future
Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
* d9 L* U0 ]  _* m/ `) L0 s% i Into the pond of life
Creating ripples
that leave unique mark on our world
Not because of thoughts
- t/ F% h1 z2 `/ G0 I not because of well meaning plans
But because of actions.

4 G0 p" q, b1 ]8 m Our life's prayers our answered
Because even the smallest pebble
% P+ ^% Q2 ^+ ]: s$ n2 H8 B. g No matter how seemingly insignificant
, y# z! x  H% s) k3 u$ X Changes the course of the lives
Of those we touch.?

And when the icy winds of death
/ v# `/ a6 g5 _% K beckon our lasting attention
We will gently leave this life
With the knowledge that
+ b) B$ p6 B+ ~# F# X because of that one pebble
The world will never be the same.
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, p( \% {9 c( ]8 R+ } And then we have heaven …
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Ross Rosenberg
8/18/03