Why Wait for Heaven?
As Dee and I took our bulkhead seats
on our flight home to Hawaii, we noticed a young newlywed couple seeking their
seats in the row across the aisle from us. They were on their honeymoon,
obviously very much in love and excited about their adventure. When they
realized that they were assigned seats apart from each other, both in middle
seats one behind another, their countenance dropped like a five-year-old whose
ice cream cone fell on the sidewalk.
The passenger sitting next to the husband, a woman well beyond newlywed age,
sensed their upset and very kindly offered to switch seats with the bride so she
could sit next to her husband. The young lady was delighted, and the women
changed seats. As the older woman took her seat, I complimented her, “That was
very generous of you to trade your bulkhead aisle seat for a middle seat farther
back.”
The lady smiled and answered, “I was a newlywed once, and I know how they feel.
Besides, I’m going to Hawaii! I’d sit in the cargo compartment if I had to!”
Her comment caught me by surprise. Dee and I are generally fussy about our
seats. We travel a great deal, we are both tall, and we make extensive efforts
to get roomy seats on airplanes. This woman, however, was in such a state of joy
and appreciation that she was just happy to be on the plane, wherever she sat.
Her exhilaration was so great that she created a miracle for the newlyweds. The
contrast between my fussiness and her willingness was humbling. She reminded me
that happiness has little to do with conditions, and a lot to do with attitude.
Counselor Steve Sobel notes, “From speaking to many cancer survivor groups, I
have learned that the watch on your hand no longer says, ‘tick, tick, tick.’ It
now says, ‘precious, precious, precious.’ When you understand that, every
chapter you write in your life becomes fascinating.”
In my book I Had it All the Time, I recounted a life-changing experience I had
at the East Maui Animal Refuge, a private non-profit foundation where director
Sylvan Schwab and his wife Suzie oversee caring for about 600 injured or
unwanted animals. The Schwabs and their staff work selflessly, tirelessly every
day from before dawn until after dusk, feeding the animals and attending to
their medical needs. When a magazine reported recently interviewed Sylvan at the
refuge, she came up with the same conclusion as me ― he is like a modern-day St.
Francis. At the conclusion of her interview, the reporter noted to Sylvan, “I
guess that when you leave this world your chances of getting into heaven are
pretty good.” Sylvan smiled and replied, “I don’t have to leave this world to
get into heaven ― I’m already there.”
Not many people would think that taking care of injured and unloved animals
practically 24/7 is their idea of heaven, but Sylvan is there ― which teaches me
that fulfillment has less to do with conditions, and more to do with following
the path that makes your heart sing.
A Course in Miracles asks us, “Why wait for heaven?” What a powerful question to
consider! Many religions have told us that heaven is a place you earn by
suffering on earth. The worse it is here, they teach, the better it will be
there. But what if heaven is an experience you could attain even while walking
the earth? Indeed we have all had moments of it. What would it take to make that
experience more constant?
In the film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray portrays Phil, a cynical fellow who wakes
up one morning to find himself in a bizarre time warp in which he just keeps
reliving the same day over and over again. No matter what he does, including
killing himself, he wakes up to live the same day once more. When Phil realizes
he has become practically immortal, he starts to indulge himself to the sensory
max ― hey, he can’t die, so why not? He scarfs down massive portions of junk
food, he hits on women, and on and on. Yet in spite of these indulgences he
still ends each day depressed, maybe more so. Finally Phil tries something new ―
helping people where he can. When he shifts his theme from “How much can I get?”
to “How much can I give?” two amazing things happen: one, he feels happy for the
first time in a long time, and two, he finally wakes up from his recurring
nightmare.
As the charitable woman on our flight sat back in her cramped middle sit with a
big smile on her face, I leaned back and reconsidered my need to get my choice
seat. That lady, I decided, was an angel sent to be my teacher. (Sometimes the
best teachers show up in odd or unexpected situations and packages.) When we
finally landed and began to deplane, everyone was happy. The newlyweds got their
seats together; the other lady made it to Hawaii; and I received one of the best
spiritual lessons ever.
Go figure.
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