MOMENTS OF HEAVEN, HOLY ENCOUNTERS
Opposite our little porch-garden there’s a six story office-building, and when I sit on our porch once in a while puffing a self-rolled cigarette, sometimes a man my age opens up a corner-window in the fifth floor and lights a cigarette too. We soon started waving hands at each other happily. We don’t know each other’s names or jobs or stories or whatever and only once so far we had exchanged words over the distance of those thirty meters.
Even though it had been winter, the weather was like in spring, and my cigarette-fellow opened his arms like in demonstration of this unusual climate and yelled at me: “No snow!” “Thank God!” I yelled back and we laughed.
The last two, three times this cigarette-encounter happened, I realized, the moment we would greet each other happily and wave hands, this very moment there was but a blazing white light filled with joy to be experienced. There were absolutely no thoughts involved. There was just this moment of joyful mutual recognition in a blaze of white light.
Back in my thoughts I eventually realized, this is exactly what we call heaven. And how easily heaven can be attained!
It’s exactly the same as when little children wave at you from inside their cars when you’re driving along on a freeway. They don’t know anything about you and couldn’t care less. They’re just happy to meet and greet someone who’s on his way too!
Christoph Engen, February 5, 2014
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