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.

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.
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Heaven
The pebble is worn smooth
! ]' ]  M2 v  |, U Made small over time
A product of a cataclysmic force of nature
A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock
+ U6 w3 l# p7 I# d. Q# z An accidental offspring of a boulder
% r3 u  e: w# { But just a very small stone.

The pebble's place in our world
" Q6 Z2 E, I  Z Is neither understood nor appreciated
But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
Its insignificance is transformed
Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.
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9 ^: Y5 n$ Y  Y2 x4 _  I The instant the pebble kisses the pond
Its signature of concentric ripples
Spiral outwards
Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
Forever altering the smooth placid surface.

% k# e  M9 Q- R/ e The pebble creates its worth and meaning
. L- o9 m! K0 o1 {+ K+ X3 Q By unleashing its unimagined power?
' w& [/ e' z+ g2 s" B Into a dueling force of action and reaction
" v1 e; g9 ^* G& K: v6 L Creating karmic energy
Producing lasting and fluid impressions.
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Aren't we all pebbles?
Feeling small and insignificant
But ultimately recognizing
That who we are meant to be
4 T1 W. c( _% p, t/ h" B- `3 [ Can never be measured in isolation
; s& ]* c  ]) @# l' [ on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:
: n% B9 W1 W  B7 L Our everlasting future
Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
Into the pond of life
: k4 J0 p7 S; Z0 U Creating ripples
& ^4 e) v  V$ o# U that leave unique mark on our world
Not because of thoughts
not because of well meaning plans
But because of actions.
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* x: I) e2 I! j' B0 d/ V Our life's prayers our answered
1 U9 X. @% p) ]" B$ P Because even the smallest pebble
( o2 w" o+ G) C" V" E No matter how seemingly insignificant
) |, C4 C! t! ~9 F Changes the course of the lives
Of those we touch.?
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And when the icy winds of death
beckon our lasting attention
8 h, J7 w' Y; c! c2 K  ^( N) \ We will gently leave this life
With the knowledge that
8 v% {( f; q: b- V. x because of that one pebble
The world will never be the same.
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And then we have heaven …

( Y9 X9 Q, C3 t! G Ross Rosenberg
, C# f/ Z4 x; C! S+ V2 M 8/18/03