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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0 M! L. G% B+ @+ ~ 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
, O5 G- G$ y3 R! _ A fragment of mountainous sheets of rock
An accidental offspring of a boulder
9 j& f. Z7 V9 D But just a very small stone.
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The pebble's place in our world
Is neither understood nor appreciated
7 W1 i$ u6 C% Z" K! h: N But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
7 |: y$ w) L# L8 c: [% D Its insignificance is transformed
Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.
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The instant the pebble kisses the pond
Its signature of concentric ripples
! Y5 `- ?5 {3 }) Y Spiral outwards
Moving far beyond itself.
Gently affecting everything in its wake
) e  N6 P# i! X" i Forever altering the smooth placid surface.
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' x% C1 d3 j( _* g2 G. L The pebble creates its worth and meaning
) y8 L: t* l" j# Y By unleashing its unimagined power?
; i( b# N9 n6 r( S; D) T Into a dueling force of action and reaction
( e% _+ E% {5 W" p9 W  G Creating karmic energy
5 R6 K8 C; K# C8 z7 K1 W* ~ 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
( u9 Z4 O, J8 \ Can never be measured in isolation
: W1 }) k' Y# C; U on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:
/ z2 y$ j, O! r! G: q Our everlasting future
Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
Into the pond of life
Creating ripples
  ]! p* V- e& H/ m' I9 Q 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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# z7 C7 a2 _. r7 V* I- [) k Our life's prayers our answered
Because even the smallest pebble
7 V. Y6 Q1 \: ]" o5 W/ w0 G No matter how seemingly insignificant
Changes the course of the lives
) B8 d- \& [4 q7 n1 D0 t0 u  @ Of those we touch.?
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And when the icy winds of death
+ G0 Q6 Z' w' J) c* s. p beckon our lasting attention
We will gently leave this life
. U: @7 g# j2 L9 l- o; U2 M, g With the knowledge that
: X* M  i# ^. _. g because of that one pebble
The world will never be the same.

: \+ n7 Z! M; l And then we have heaven …

/ S" \- n# u0 D8 N0 j% L Ross Rosenberg
- e% \/ ~, d* C. Q 8/18/03