When my youngest was in elementary school, she asked about heaven and \u201ceternity.\u201d As I explained our belief that we would one day be with God forever, I was surprised that her reaction was less than enthusiastic. Forever seemed a little too long as far as she was concerned. Although I chalked it up to a \u201ckids-say-the-darndest-things\u201d moment, I don\u2019t think she was completely off base. Neither, it seems, does Scripture.<\/p>\n
As Ecclesiastes tells us, God \u201chas put the timeless into [our] hearts, without [our] ever discovering\u201d it. In other words, we have eternity within us, but like my young daughter, we can\u2019t really grasp it. Viewed from our human vantage point, it\u2019s too overwhelming. In fact, we often use the term \u201clike an eternity\u201d when referring to long\u2014and unpleasant\u2014waits, at the doctor or bank or the Department of Motor Vehicles. Let\u2019s all pray that eternity is not like the DMV!<\/p>\n
While we may not be able to fully grasp eternity this side of heaven, can we glimpse it? Like the apostles in today\u2019s Gospel, the answer is clearly yes. God does give us small glimpses of the glory that awaits us\u2014in the mundane miracles of our daily lives, in the things that make us pause, smile, breathe deep with gratitude. Eternity may be hard to fathom, no matter our age, but God promises us that it will be ours . . . when the time is right and the timelessness that lives hidden within us becomes our eternal home.<\/p>\n