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.
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Heaven
The pebble is worn smooth
Made small over time
A product of a cataclysmic force of nature
( N' Q2 A9 `& E& [ A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock
An accidental offspring of a boulder
2 Y( H7 k% }2 U5 h1 G But just a very small stone.

( H: }- B* W' |8 ` The pebble's place in our world
5 y( n8 F5 H! G8 k Is neither understood nor appreciated
( y& l4 O: H% m6 B8 w" w6 ^, c2 A But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
1 l7 O6 o5 n4 f7 u% i4 i Its insignificance is transformed
Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.

The instant the pebble kisses the pond
Its signature of concentric ripples
Spiral outwards
: U, K8 W& y5 A& v: V Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
Forever altering the smooth placid surface.
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+ W; ], I' ?4 [, o  ]& h6 P The pebble creates its worth and meaning
2 Q  H, s& Y3 `! C' ] By unleashing its unimagined power?
Into a dueling force of action and reaction
Creating karmic energy
+ [( }1 k7 M8 _  E5 ?) S Producing lasting and fluid impressions.
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Aren't we all pebbles?
9 i- ~) z) p* C6 u- [. c Feeling small and insignificant
But ultimately recognizing
That who we are meant to be
Can never be measured in isolation
on a path into ourselves.
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It is true then:
8 |0 A8 U6 k9 R% A Our everlasting future
Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
Into the pond of life
Creating ripples
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Not because of thoughts
: K* ^+ [, x- I# Q6 u; `* X not because of well meaning plans
. p1 O  v7 H+ s6 l3 D But because of actions.
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Our life's prayers our answered
- n% w) b2 v# b" V5 W; i Because even the smallest pebble
3 ^- Q2 P6 Y  W. i9 ~ No matter how seemingly insignificant
( F+ w, M/ A4 I$ W Changes the course of the lives
# f1 n* x  g4 N% E& K Of those we touch.?

And when the icy winds of death
beckon our lasting attention
9 p4 A7 g) Y9 V0 z4 {' q$ {) c' Q We will gently leave this life
+ Z) g- P5 _6 E7 C/ R" d With the knowledge that
: ?6 x* g) _! u because of that one pebble
' ]" C$ l- X1 d: v The world will never be the same.
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And then we have heaven …
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Ross Rosenberg
8/18/03