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
7 p5 M/ ^7 r" }( B9 y! L- a Made small over time
A product of a cataclysmic force of nature
  {! ]. E" i2 G3 w" _, K A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock
An accidental offspring of a boulder
1 n8 m) e8 n$ L/ s8 d; j But just a very small stone.
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The pebble's place in our world
7 H$ U, A1 Q5 _( C' ?0 `; M9 q Is neither understood nor appreciated
But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
+ W/ Y2 J$ C) ?9 h; d& }0 R8 {; A Its insignificance is transformed
Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.

5 \0 D1 y* W  m- |! S- C5 G; z The instant the pebble kisses the pond
5 F& C* q1 A" z6 w8 _: Z Its signature of concentric ripples
Spiral outwards
Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
Forever altering the smooth placid surface.
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The pebble creates its worth and meaning
By unleashing its unimagined power?
6 W$ s5 }+ x' f. ? Into a dueling force of action and reaction
3 ~; _$ a, l3 z" V6 Z4 k Creating karmic energy
Producing lasting and fluid impressions.

Aren't we all pebbles?
  Z6 E  `0 s0 l0 H) f/ F Feeling small and insignificant
But ultimately recognizing
That who we are meant to be
! ]- n; [8 E) s% P! @5 z Can never be measured in isolation
on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:
Our everlasting future
+ ~1 O8 X, s4 ]  f6 i$ |7 s Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
7 Q. T( r6 m+ w" n Into the pond of life
Creating ripples
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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: Q# o  }0 V* m% @6 I Our life's prayers our answered
. n8 Y# U: U. M0 B5 Y( w1 M' u9 k Because even the smallest pebble
No matter how seemingly insignificant
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Of those we touch.?
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And when the icy winds of death
beckon our lasting attention
! G% w. u) x1 _# U: D We will gently leave this life
With the knowledge that
because of that one pebble
The world will never be the same.

$ n$ _: _. E4 h4 N) I And then we have heaven …
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Ross Rosenberg
8/18/03