'Heaven Is Under Our Feet'

Man, I can't believe it's been a year since I've posted a blog entry. I guess life does get crazy and time really does seem to fly by. I think I need to make some time to at least write once a month. Taking the time to put your thoughts down is relaxing. Hope you enjoy it! Henry David Thoreau wrote, "Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads." HDT was a philosopher of nature as it pertained to the human condition. He spent time as a children's tutor, repairman and gardener for Ralph Waldo Emerson. You could say he kept some pretty good company. I absolutely love this quote, and I believe there are multiple meanings to it. The first being that sometimes you find a very unique, desirable location that you hope to visit or vacation their someday. Many times people will say, 'this place is like heaven'. I've traveled quite a bit and I've seen some pretty spectacular places, but there is one that really stands out for me; Lady Evelyn Lake in Northern Ontario. I've been fortunate enough to travel there 15 times for fishing trips with friends. When trying to describe this place to others, I regularly use the word 'pristine'. Almost untouched by man and Gods handiwork is incredibly evident. Spectacular places like this really make you take notice as to just how blessed we are. Reading a lot of his work, I also believe Thoreau was thinking along the lines of our journey on this earth. Including those that cross our paths and those that walk beside us through it all. I've been very fortunate to have an incredible mate for this journey. I was asked by a younger guy a couple weeks ago, 'How do you stay married for almost 30 yrs?' After sharing a few sarcastic answers just for laughs, he said, 'Seriously, what's your best answer?' After a moment, not knowing what he believes, I said, 'This might not make sense to you, but I would say...love her like Jesus.' I guess he was good with the answer because he said 'Cooll' and walked away. Now, you might say, 'Tim, you sometimes do and say things that I don't think Jesus would love.' And you would be right. I've wrestled with my faith journey as many of you have. When I said, 'Love her like Jesus', what I meant was to love her like Jesus loves her. We've had our good and bad times, arguments about everything from parenting to pets, but at the end of the day even when I was mad at her, I've tried to keep that in my mind. And I haven't always been great at it, but I've always given it my best. It may not be the best advice for you, but it's worked pretty well for us. I think the best nugget of wisdom we could take from Thoreau's quote, is to not be in such a big hurry to get to heaven above. Stop, slow down and enjoy the 'heaven' that's right underneath (or beside) your feet. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. That's the view from my stand!