What is Heaven?

After church services, the custom was to sit in the hall of the church and share a cup of coffee or tea, and chat ... This particular night was really no different, but the conversation turned to things ethereal ...

"What is heaven like?" someone asked, and the conversation turned to our ideas of heaven and what it might be like for those of us who pass from life through death to life everlasting.

"You white guys have it all wrong," said Umma quietly, "you think heaven is about clouds and angels and playing harps," she paused to sip her tea. "That's not right ..."

Umma then pressed on, "I'm not interested in the white man's heaven. I don't want to sit around on a cloud all day and play a harp. Afterall," she smiled, "I've never learned how to play a hard and I'm too old to learn ..."

Laughter enveloped the room.

"What do you think heaven is?" I asked.

"My Grandmother told me," Umma continued, "that our people go to the Spirit World when they die, and the Spirit World is all around us. It is as close as our breath, it is all around us ..."

She went on to describe a place that is around us all the time where those we have loved are with us as a presence of strength, courage and love. She said that for her she could imagine no better place then with her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and the many, many descendents that she and her late husband had been responsible for.

With a broad smile and a twinkle in her eye, she cited as support of her view, "the presence of my husband whenever I need him ..."

The conversation turned to how we experience the Spirit World and moments when its presence felt very real ...

Since that day, I have shared Umma's story in times of grief ... the idea that our departed loved one is no farther away than our next breath is comforting when our hearts ache from saying "good bye."

Umma's story not only speaks the wisdom of her people, passed down through the sands of time, it also reminds us in the Church that once in a while, it would be good for us to be taught such wisdom by simply sitting quietly and listening, rather than erroneously thinking we have all the answers ...