Getting into Heaven
excerpted from The Bucket List, a film.
Sitting top one of the Egyptian pyramids, the two men survey the landscape. Having both been diagnosed with terminal illness, they had recently embarked on a world-wide adventure, vowing to see and do everything they had desired to experience in their lives from visiting Africa to skydiving to seeing The Taj Mahal. One of the men, Edward Cole, was very rich but lonely, bankrolling their travels while the other, Carter Chambers, had been a car mechanic his whole life, a working man, and married to the same woman for 50 yrs. They were in stark contrast to one another yet shared the common thread of facing death.
"Do you know what the Egyptians think about getting into heaven?" Carter posed to Edward.
"Not a clue" Edward replied.
"They say when you go to Heaven God asks you 2 questions to decide if you get to come into Heaven or not. Do you know what they are?" said Carter.
"Nope" shrugged Edward.
"Well, the first question is Have you found Joy?" said Carter.
"Oh, well I suppose I have found some joy" Edward said hesitantly.
"Ok, and the second question is Have you brought Joy to others?" said Carter quietly.
"Hmmmm, well, um. (silence) We all do the best we can" said Edward. (he begins to explain why he is not seeing his adult daughter).
"Yes, but have you brought Joy others???" questioned Carter.
In many ways we have become self absorbed in our desire to experience happiness in our lives which may translate into Joy. But how often do we think about bringing Joy to others? The quote "Let me be an instrument of thy Peace" might be one to think about today as we nurture joy within ourselves and then radiate that Joy outward to others.
Question: How am I giving and receiving Joy in my life?
No comments:
Post a Comment