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
A product of a cataclysmic force of nature
9 X0 y+ }$ \' K, Y 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
2 z6 k3 B, M/ M: w. B But when thrown into a glassy calm pond
8 f9 t+ F7 h9 S0 j3 h! P Its insignificance is transformed
% i0 {2 k* ?" ~7 [9 f Its meaning and purpose is unleashed.

+ R2 q. V- @9 \7 p9 d The instant the pebble kisses the pond
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
' m0 r  r; n% ^; Q By unleashing its unimagined power?
Into a dueling force of action and reaction
Creating karmic energy
Producing lasting and fluid impressions.

Aren't we all pebbles?
5 ?6 J5 N0 @! p Feeling small and insignificant
But ultimately recognizing
$ b0 s6 k% A7 A- a' K2 G# ~ That who we are meant to be
Can never be measured in isolation
on a path into ourselves.

It is true then:
Our everlasting future
Is created by the indiscriminate tossing of pebbles
4 \8 A' t; f7 {% H8 F( o Into the pond of life
% ]/ t' v$ u& }- f Creating ripples
that leave unique mark on our world
* _' W! S5 F+ I! i; y6 |% y' i0 v3 B Not because of thoughts
7 [. v1 m! J9 e9 F/ F% D not because of well meaning plans
But because of actions.
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$ b8 ^; K, c# t$ p* a; o Our life's prayers our answered
) x9 Z. B) R' u- e  ?+ j Because even the smallest pebble
$ n  i' w) x0 f# N( }' u+ w* b 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
beckon our lasting attention
We will gently leave this life
With the knowledge that
! k7 v, P1 N! ~  v/ u9 p& ^, U because of that one pebble
& I6 H+ X, m, s! F- g- f# u The world will never be the same.

! X+ Z! ~( \/ c6 s( O4 K' f8 p And then we have heaven …
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Ross Rosenberg
: F0 L. l7 I0 D4 a  Z 8/18/03