Tonight at supper we got into a conversation about heaven. Bella brought up the fact that one day I would die. I said that she was right and that all of us die eventually. One of the other kids said it was okay to die because of the promise of heaven. I said that was right. The conversation continued and Emma asked what I thought heaven was like.
To be honest I didn’t know quite what to say. What do I think heaven looks like? I told her that no one knows for certain exactly what heaven is like but that we know it’s a place of perfection. That God is there along with Jesus, Mary, the saints and all those we love who have gone before us. We talked about who might be there. One of the kids asked if I thought there was chocolate and ribs and T-bone steaks in heaven. I laughed and said I didn’t know but I thought that the things that make us happy will be there so maybe chocolate and ribs and T-bones just might!
Anna, who had been sitting quietly listening said, "You mean heaven is like The Big Comfy Couch ?" This brought a smile to my face and I said that yes, heaven probably is like The Big Comfy Couch… it has everything we need there. For those of you unaware of what The Big Comfy Couch is it is a children’s show about a clown and her doll and her couch that holds everything under the sun in it. As they imagine and play they pull things out of the couch. If she needs a hat, it’s there. If she needs sunglasses, they are there. If she needs a blanket, it’s there. Everything she needs is always there. At the end Lunette the clown is always surprised at what a big mess there is after pulling out all kinds of things from the couch and decides that she made the mess so she needs to clean it up. Along the way there are other lessons to be learned about sharing, caring and consideration. It’s a very sweet show and a wonderful analogy for heaven.
Heaven is like the Big Comfy Couch… we know that it hold everything we need. Not only does it hold everything we need but everything we could want as well. Like Lunette, those who are important to us will be there with us (like Molly her favorite doll) and we will find happiness, peace and love there.
I like the idea of heaven being a big comfy couch. You can’t ask for a better description of heaven I think. It only took a four-year-old to show me that wisdom that I’ve wondered about for 36 years.
