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
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.

The pebble's place in our world
Is neither understood nor appreciated
1 z8 y+ r: z# a1 N' h But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
Its insignificance is transformed
: j: o+ x$ ^- [( { Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.
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The instant the pebble kisses the pond
Its signature of concentric ripples
Spiral outwards
Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
3 x4 }' |& ~* I$ p* s2 i Forever altering the smooth placid surface.
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The pebble creates its worth and meaning
. i. V$ ^& a4 M# L! ^) j4 M By unleashing its unimagined power?
Into a dueling force of action and reaction
$ K5 A! S1 M6 U, y- z Creating karmic energy
Producing lasting and fluid impressions.

: C3 N0 l0 H, L8 @1 c  g4 z8 z Aren't we all pebbles?
Feeling small and insignificant
But ultimately recognizing
5 R' w& @3 c% {2 l! H That who we are meant to be
Can never be measured in isolation
" K/ b1 A& _' u2 p8 c* G on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:
( k! i0 g/ g+ Z: B& a7 }: H. F Our everlasting future
. h! L( V: x5 \& q; j2 y5 S6 g; V Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
3 ~. e6 i/ t& S, P5 X- H Into the pond of life
. z( ^9 [7 n- J- t! s/ S/ a% ` Creating ripples
that leave unique mark on our world
Not because of thoughts
: P7 b& G' H; ~# V& K6 y: x not because of well meaning plans
But because of actions.

/ |6 D, Z$ J1 P" a& U) R Our life's prayers our answered
Because even the smallest pebble
No matter how seemingly insignificant
Changes the course of the lives
Of those we touch.?
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) P: h& x0 ~" j. i9 \1 v9 e And when the icy winds of death
beckon our lasting attention
We will gently leave this life
" X+ [# T( r2 R6 {, _* T1 ]6 u) t With the knowledge that
because of that one pebble
The world will never be the same.
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And then we have heaven …
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# w& `& ]" J- o0 U5 {2 c Ross Rosenberg
6 h5 B# a- n* P! P& u; n) e8 N 8/18/03