The Manifold Wondrous Reasons For Wanting To Go To The Biblical Heaven....

The Manifold Wondrous Reasons For Wanting To Go To The Biblical Heaven....

I have often thought of the best our world has to offer in all aspects, yet knowing that nothing in this life, in this era, or epochs in the past can compare to the unspeakable glories of Jesus' Heaven. Think of the best of these aspects of your life, and then, if you are a Christian, getting giddy over the salient fact that the Heaven that the Lord Jesus is preparing... that none of us can fathom. I am going to go through some wondrous aspects of my personal life so far that have animated the senses the Lord has bestowed on me, and perhaps, you too can do the same as the memories come to the fore.

I see the wonders of Christ Jesus in my everyday life. I see the sheer beauty and humanity in a mother breast feeding her child; I saw the unfathomable love of a mother hen protecting her chicks when grandma and I raised chicken all those years ago in Saint Kitts. I have been in the hospital room as my children were being born and felt like a God, obviously with a lowercase 'g.' I have had the utmost pleasure of sex in making said children. I have had the cool, soothing spring water that came from the mountain of Saint Kitts on a hot Summer day. I have had grandma's ginger beer with a piece of bread an fry fish that any five-star restaurant would envy. I have played Cricket and faced the pace bowler and hit the ball through the covers and heard the welcoming cheers of the crowd. I have ran fifteen miles or more daily in Washington State when I served in the Army and felt invincible.

Many of us go through life and not hear the literal voice of God and not that I am special, but I have been so blessed and honored. I have heard the voice of the Living God by the Chase Bank on Flatbush and Church Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. The voice of God knew that I often carry money to give to those who are less fortunate than I. And the Lord told me that He was sending someone to me and that I should not give that person the customary one dollar - but that I should give that person enough to purchase a meal. Immediately, after the Lord spoke, that person came and I obeyed... but to this day, I wished that I had given him more because I had it to give - may the Lord forgive me for not being more generous like the Good Samaritan was in the Bible.

As a boy, I have played in the pouring rain, while the sun was shining. I have watched the rainbow fish dancing a salt-water samba at my feet in the black sand waters of Saint Kitts. I have watched the Mango or the Banana tree bearing their respective fruits and it is indeed an eye-watering spectacle to behold. In grandma's yard, I have seen the Eden-like Custard Apple tree whose fruits when ripe are pink like a baby's tonsil. I have watched the grapes of Saint Kitts, dressed in royal purple, and their perfume beckoning my child-hood friends and I to pluck them and eat. I have listened to grandma's honey-suckled voice singing 'Rock of Ages' - not the Def Leppard secular version - and my pondering how can someone that is surrounded by the attributes of abject poverty can seemingly be so happy? In this same glorious vein, I have watched old ladies, many of grandma's church friends, danced like King David to honor Christ Jesus, yet not having 'much' in this life.

Let us address the fairer sex... I remember, as a boy, watching the beads of water, glistening like morning dew, from the ladies coke-bottle-shape bathing suits as they swam... these beautiful, meandering (winding) figures of some of the ladies I used to see growing up in the hamlet of Saint Paul's, Saint Kitts and thinking how lucky their respective boyfriends were... until my fortune came too in meeting my beloved wife. As a young man, I realized how music was like a magnet to the ladies and how that same music tickled almost all of my Jesus-given senses. To that end, I would listen to Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Banky Banks and the Calypso being sang by the Calypsonians then like Star Shield, Sparrow, Short Shirt, Swallow, Chalk Dust, Calypso Rose, and Kitchener. To broaden our musical, curious palates, my buds and I would go to the local police station because none of us had a television at our respective homes, so that we could watch Midnight Special hosted by Wolman Jack and there we saw American music from artists like Rod Stewart, Neil Diamond, Aretha Franklyn, Michael Jackson and my favorite up to this day, the gifted little man name Prince from Minnesota - yet none of those artists ever made me tear up like a song about Jesus-the-Christ.

Let us talk about food... like having a slice of Pepperoni pizza for the first time or Lasagna. I remember as a little boy, I used to be a helper to a rich kid name King. I would take little love/lust notes to his many girlfriends and I would envy him because beside his many girlfriends, he would travel to New York or Canada every Summer. One Summer, King came back from his travels and made me homemade fries and Ketchup. I can honestly say that when I ate that meal I thought that my taste buds had died and gone to see Christ Jesus. It has been over four decades and I still remember some of the meals that my beloved grandma made for me like the rice/pigeon peas and sea turtle or the fry fish and fresh baked bread with lemon grass tea. Last but not least, years ago, in Oakland California, I helped my dad moved and he rewarded me with baby-back ribs and hotlinks... to this day, my mouth still waters for that meal - thanks dad.

I can go on and on about these aspects of life and feel guilty for leaving out many of these happenings like making my beloved brother, Wayne laugh when I write dialogue or my dad teaching me to drive a stick shift down the treacherous hills of San Francisco or the time when my dad decided that we should help him paint one of his homes he was renting. We happened to stop off at a McDonald in Martinez, California and while inside, we were the only Blacks and for some reason many of the patrons were laughing at us and I am not going to lie, none of them call us the "N' word, but our dad saw our discomfort. It was then my dad opened his wind breaker and showed his gun that was in its holster he carried on account of the fact that he was an Oakland police detective; in addition, dad then proceeded to display a country mile long length of credit cards he let fall down from his wallet - all of sudden, everyone became church-mouse quiet and my dad with that sly smile paid for the meals and walked out. I could almost hear the song playing, "How you like me now!?"

In authoring this blog, I had to ponder the chutzpah of Satan in his temptation of the Christ to worship him. I say this knowing that the Gospel of Saint John records that everything seen and unseen (the Spirit world) was made by Christ Jesus (John 1:3), including Satan, women, food, music, and the Caribbean, especially Saint Kitts. However, I am assured that eyes have not seen, nor ears have heard, nor tongues can articulate the Heaven the Lord has prepared for those who believe in his Deity (1st Corinthians 2:9).

You may ask me, among the wonders of Heaven, what do I want to see first there? I want to see Abba Father, The Christ, and the Holy Spirit, surrounded by the Heavenly hosts, especially the Seraphims. I want to hear the music and join in the hymns in honor of the Living God because if I could tap my feet to Prince's funk anthem, 1999, could you imagine music from the Lord's throne room!. I want to see the baby the Lord took from my wife and I - what did the Lord name him? I want to see my grandma - Edith Adina Hazel (Avis) - who raised me and taught me about Christ Jesus. I want to see the original pilgrim, Abraham and my two other favorites in the Bible, The Apostle Paul and King David. Once again brethren, think of the best things you have had in this life and know that nothing can compare to what Jesus has in store for those who believe He is Lord and Savior... and for us to thank Him that forever is a long time to enjoy the joys to come that Christ Jesus have authored.