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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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
The pebble is worn smooth
Made small over time
. F& V& `/ F: S% t6 X6 J1 f A product of a cataclysmic force of nature
- L# ~! [5 A' R/ E3 ^ 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
3 A- S9 P+ k8 M2 L7 A Is neither understood nor appreciated
But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
/ J1 v/ F5 o9 P" ~5 `/ E* y# h Its insignificance is transformed
Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.

The instant the pebble kisses the pond
Its signature of concentric ripples
  O; C3 v1 I9 G( J Spiral outwards
4 f  _4 o7 P( {5 @ Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
Forever altering the smooth placid surface.

The pebble creates its worth and meaning
By unleashing its unimagined power?
0 R$ q7 e* {3 p6 x Into a dueling force of action and reaction
Creating karmic energy
Producing lasting and fluid impressions.
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Aren't we all pebbles?
+ }0 [6 H; j, _& x0 _& M) o Feeling small and insignificant
But ultimately recognizing
, F' W; Z7 h1 T: v( P+ K That who we are meant to be
Can never be measured in isolation
9 P* ?2 ^' u% e2 |; P( s! b on a path into ourselves.
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. V7 R8 A5 d$ k, f! d* S It is true then:
: [, }9 E4 i0 j& z& z Our everlasting future
2 m) Z, S% N* z9 v9 W" @+ p0 w+ K0 K Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
Into the pond of life
Creating ripples
that leave unique mark on our world
Not because of thoughts
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But because of actions.

+ Z; r* }$ @6 k9 }4 ?8 G& f 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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And when the icy winds of death
' t, o/ ~0 i4 q: Z beckon our lasting attention
! ]- P" m' \- v/ a" }8 F We will gently leave this life
With the knowledge that
because of that one pebble
The world will never be the same.

And then we have heaven …
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7 Q# T* H8 n' h1 k Ross Rosenberg
- G: g8 r( p* n( \9 e9 W 8/18/03