I have been looking at old pictures of my girls in the days of when they danced in competitions. Oh the times I sat and waited for a performance that they had been practicing to give for the last year. All the audience sitting and waiting for the show to begin. It would be dark in the auditorium and we would be talking in hushed voices waiting for the show to begin.
It is a strange thing as you wait. You dont really think about it but yet you dont imagine that your child is really back there beyond that curtain. You feel as though the audience is all that is there and that somehow magically your child will appear when the stagehands pull that curtain open and then there they are, ready to put on the show.
But the truth is they are there.......... and beyond the veil of that curtain there is more show going on then most of the audience would ever imagine! There are last minute dances going on getting certain moves 'just right' ... there are last minute costume fixes with pins and needles and threads. There are tears of fear and laughter of excitement. There is frenzy and calm, work and play...... so much going on that the audience could never imagine.
The first time I went to a show put on by my dancing girls I sat in the dark auditorium and suddenly there was a quick slight movement on the side of the curtain and a little face looked out for a moment. It was then that the whispers from the Spirit of God started to talk to me. Those whispers reminded me that the veil that separates this life and the next works the same way. We walk through this world pointing up toward the sky when we speak of the next world. We think of the next life as 'up there' somewhere, a place we will enter when we die. We dont realize we think this way but as we walk through the life we know deep down we think that heaven is waiting to start when we get there. Deep down we really dont get that it is not 'on hold' until we arrive. Just like the dance show I was waiting for , there is so much activity in the next world, preparing for my arrival. Heaven is not dark nothingness behind a veil , waiting to come alive when I arrive. It is right there, with work and activity always happening even if I dont see past the curtain that separates me from the Kingdom of God.
Jesus said the Kingdom of God is among you.... it is right there, behind that veil waiting until my eyes can open to see it. For most people the waiting is until they shut their eyes to this world in death. For those who seek the Kingdom hard, they are blessed to have their eyes open in this life and they see the Kingdom. We call them great prophets, or excellent healers, we believe they are special and different than us. But anyone who seeks the Kingdom can find it if they truly want to, and they can get views of what is going on behind the curtain if they will allow their Spirits to grow and allow their eyes to open.
I wonder how many people in the audience saw that little girl peek out for a moment before the show. I am betting most of them were talking and laughing with other audeience members to see the little flash of light and the curious face. The thing I remember the most is wondering who was more excited, myself to see the show, or the little girl to put the show on ! I think it is the same with the heavenly beings. They are excited for the day when the sons and daughters of God are all together in the Kingdom they are preparing for us...... I imagine that some of them peek over hoping that one of us would get a glimpse of the place they are preparing for us.
I think about why I was able to catch that face of that girl that night and the answer I get is , I was so preoccupied with waiting for that first glimpse of my girls dancing I was studying the curtain. I did not take my eyes off of the curtain because I was so anxious to see it start to pull apart and let me see my girls. I hope I have the same anticipation to see my Saviour and Creator and the world they inhabit. I hope that as I enjoy this life I also keep my eye and spirit so trained on the spirit world that I dont miss a glimpse here and there of the Kingdom that surrounds me , the world that is there for me for eternity. I hope that I get glimpses often enough for it to remain real to me as I walk in this life.
