Heavenly Thoughts

When we speak of loved ones who have passed away, my family, friends and I frequently look or gesture upward, as if to suggest that they now reside in a heaven located high in the sky.  While flying in a jet above the cloud cover recently, the sun shone brightly and all was sunlight and blue sky.  I could see glimpses of farm land, cities, even moving vehicles far below between the puffy white clouds, and I wondered if this was the heaven to which we so often refer.  With the passing of my mother recently, I have changed my mind. I now see her not far up in the sky among the clouds but very close to me.  She and my dad are perhaps in another dimension that isn't visible to me but I believe they are still very nearby. My former thoughts about that distant separation of heaven and earth are no longer comforting to me.  Having my loved ones close to me and carried in my heart is my new definition of heaven.