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The Gift
As we enter the holiday season, I’m thinking a lot about my dad who died this time last year. I wonder what he’s experiencing in his new life, while our family adjusts to his absence within our own. I think of Heaven as a place of peace, joy, and the culmination of all we’ve hoped for during our time on Earth. While mansions, streets of gold, and pearly gates come to mind for many, others claim that figurative images can’t begin to capture an afterlife much grander than any of us could dream. Some believe those who have gone before us are with us still, rejoicing in our happiness and comforting us in sorrow; others believe in a separation – albeit temporary – between us and them. Some assume that in Heaven we immediately become all-knowing; others, that our learning will continue throughout eternity.
Like most things faith related, I don’t suppose we can know for certain what the next life holds until we experience it ourselves. I find that frustrating. I would much prefer knowing the specifics. In fact, I really wish Dad would just send me a sign. Maybe a balloon drifting from a cloud with a message inside giving me a hint of what to expect. Or more likely – since this is Lowell Harris we’re talking about – a recording of him strumming a guitar and singing about what he’s seen so far. Oh, how I would love that!
It seems a lot like waiting for Christmas morning to find out what’s inside those packages under the tree. You pick up the one with your name on the tag and examine it. You shake it, consider the size, and try your best to figure out what’s inside – ruling out some ideas and considering new ones based on what you hear shifting around in there. Even when we have no idea what’s under the paper and the bow, if we’re confident in the giver, we anticipate good things. In fact, the anticipation and pondering of possibilities is a big part of the fun.
I believe the same is true of Heaven. Even though we don’t yet know what it holds, we can enjoy the anticipation while pondering the possibilities, knowing the gift of Heaven will reflect the goodness of the giver.
I hope your holidays are filled with the anticipation of good things – both on Christmas morning and in the life to come.
Was it coincidence that brought them together – or a ghost with a purpose?
Susan Harris Howell is a psychologist on faculty at a small university in Kentucky where she has taught and mentored young adults for over thirty years. The Spirit of Vanderlaan draws on that career to capture the camaraderie and warmth between a professor and the assortment of personalities which inhabit her office. While The Spirit of Vanderlaan is her first work of fiction, she has published extensively on equality between men and women. Her first book, Buried Talents, explores gendered socialization and was published in 2022.
Susan is married to Dwayne and has two grown children, a daughter-in-law, one adorable grandson, and an incorrigible beagle, named Doc.
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I’m sorry for your loss. Grief feels extra hard over the holidays. (I’m dealing with it, too!)