I awoke this evening to the sound of children laughing. I peered out our front window to see several of the neighborhood kids scooting around the street on skateboards under the pale street lights. School is out and summer is here. And these youths -- carefree, alive,
impassioned by the simple lure of sheer unstructured time on their hands -- were having the time of their lives, living in a perfect moment of unfettered bliss. "How wonderful," I thought. I can't even remember being that young. I do remember the days when the only standing rule from my parents was to be home when the street lights came on. And of course, after a hurriedly gulped supper, my friends and I were right back on the street again being kids, with no currency in our pockets but plenty of time to spend.
I have long imagined that Heaven will be like this: No more aging, no more aches and pains, no more jobs to get to, no more crushing responsibility on my shoulders, no more death...no more loss. We will all be as children again, free to run the streets once more. Jesus said, "Bring onto Me the little children." I await the day when I shuffle off this mortal coil, free at last, its tenant no longer.
