Cabins in Heaven

Prologue … in Heaven “I can do this,” Mary whispered fiercely, feeling a surge of inspiration and courage at the thought of her predecessor. “I’ve got this.” However, doubt soon crept into her mind when she lingered further on the memory of the mastery of skills Big A had demonstrated so often. “Please, God, let me guide them well and be as good at this as he…” Mary’s thoughts trailed off into the dark and infinite space beyond what was now her cabin, before returning with a jolt, reminding her who she was and all she had been through. “Oh, to hell with all that! I don’t have to be like anyone,” she said while a wave of determination coursed through her body, crushing any shell of doubt along the way. “I’ll do this my way!” She then pondered her way, the miraculous journey that had led to here, where she now awaited the first guests to arrive. Not long ago, it seemed, she had passed through this experience. The crossover. The light just a heartbeat away. The sweet reunions. Flashes of released memories. And the limitless places and possibilities, like finding herself climbing the mountainside, unaware she was approaching her son’s cabin. She remembered the feeling of confused exhilaration and joy when they met after so many earthly years apart, and the roiling conflict between what her mind was saying and what her soul had clearly decided she had to do. Though she had reached a higher degree of maturity and harmony now, her spunky, contrarian nature had not fully gone. This time it was her heaven. She had created it, and it was there whenever she wanted to see it. The dark sky. The dancing lights of the aurora and the countless bright stars, looking in from high above. The mountain with its lush meadows and rocky peaks covered in blankets of snow. The winding trail to her cabin, adorned by waves of mountain flowers, paying tribute to all those who were part of her heaven. It was everything and everyone she had ever loved … and even more. “Some things truly are eternal,” she quipped to herself with a smile, squinting as she saw the vague outline of the new arrivals in the distance. She realized it was happening. They were coming. This was it! Breathing deeply, she felt her entire being glow and grow outward, pushing away the annoying apprehension. The pair of shadows continued to approach, getting larger. “Oh, God, I hope you’ve got my back. Here we go…”  I Am… Hello there! Yes, it’s me — that one. The one Mary is talking to, or about. I am known by many names across many cultures but, with all due respect, I am much bigger than that, and yet more intimate and accessible. Do you not feel you are more than just your name? That inside of you, although you can’t put your finger on it, there’s something deeper and transcendent, something you just know is there? Same here. I feel it too. You know it’s there when you stare into the eyes of a child and breathe in the serenity of heaven. When you soar through the sky with your kite, or listen to the sound of waves crushing into the shore. You know it when your steady steps connect to your faraway gaze on the mountain hiking trail, or when your legs and pulse match the rhythm of the spinning wheels of your bike. I am that which is whenever you are in the zone, when you do something that makes your heart come alive and your mind step aside. I am beyond everything and everyone, and yet woven into all there is at the same time. The beginning and the end, and yet another beginning… I am there when children take their first breaths, and when their parents take their last. I am the depth of the ocean, and the misty play of its waves delighting people at the beach. Like the water, I ultimately escape your control, though I make your existence possible and even pleasurable. For millennia I have eluded definition, because I change, challenge, and create. However, I do these things not for your mind to comprehend, but for your heart to wonder, for your soul to soar. You see, my cosmic home is the universe, my spiritual home is your soul, and my earthly home is your heart. We are forever one as your breath is in mine, and mine is in yours. For I am life, and we are love. And that’s what fills the hearts of the people in the coming pages as they move through “this realm,” or heaven as you often call it. For simplicity, let’s use the last one. There’s no need to reinvent a term that serves us. So we’ll keep it. Hey, this is my story, so I get to play with the words that… Okay, these are our words and this is our story, but I’m the one telling it. Well, this author and I. However, I promise that if you fall into your heart and open up to the wonder of possibility in between the lines, you will realize you are as much a part of this tale as the characters themselves — if only in some small way. But big things come from small beginnings. How often has a great love affair started with a simple “hello”? In this case, the love is for life itself. Speaking of which, we’ve just said hello to Mary and had a glimpse of her journey. She’s come a long way from her small beginning, and is rising into her full potential. You might say this is the first day of the next chapter of her life here. But all stories, in heaven and on Earth, are interconnected. We touch each other in myriad and magical ways, far more than you realize. Are you ready to see how? Good! Let’s begin. I’m hungry for some action…