In Santa Barbara, back in July, my lover and I were ending the day with a walk down the beach, near the wharf.
The day had been as close to perfect as I can imagine. We had filled the hours with much walking: the Wharf, the Arts and Crafts Fair all along the street, the park, the courthouse yard and the clock tower, State Street for lunch and books and antiques and a slice of cake each from Andersen's. The sun had been gleaming all day, and the sidewalks were coursing with life-- people and their dogs savoring the glory of the coastal summer sunshine.
We chose to end the day with a sandy stroll, before seeking dinner and getting back on the road home. After having walked so much already, trudging through the sand was a challenge for our tired feet and calves, but I think it may have been one of the loveliest walks I've ever had.
The wind tussled our hair towards the sea; the tide was beginning to swell as it neared the evening. It was still very bright, and everything so blue. My eyes couldn't choose between the sea or the sky-- both were too beautiful. Stepping along through the soft warm sand, Riley's hand in mine, my hair at the mercy of the wind and my eyes captivated by God's masterpiece in blue, I felt I was in a dream. It would have been the kind of dream that leaves you unexplainably sad upon waking, desiring for it never to have ended.
While we walked, I was meditating on the dreamlike air this whole day had held, and Riley asked me what I was thinking about.
I took a moment to gather my words. When I spoke, it was one of the few times I was blessed with the words to truly articulate what was on my heart.
"I was thinking about how the greatest and most intensely beautiful moments in your life, the rare ones that really strike your soul and kind of shock you with how perfect they seem, will still not be nearly as glorious as being in Heaven."
This seemed to delight him, for then it was all we talked about for the rest of our walk. I remarked at how easy it is for me to become entrenched in my circumstances. Lovely moments are always an idol in my heart; lowly moments easily reduce me to tears. How silly it is to be that way when I have such a heavenly inheritance in store for me after this short life.
We mused over the wonder of this earth and the glory to come; how our little fragile minds often cannot conceive of glory greater than our best earthly experience, yet how our saved souls know it awaits us: the eternity of basking in His Majesty. We painted landscapes in our heads of how Heaven might look-- with the mighty sea and open sky before us, the thought of a place infinitely more beautiful and filled with the visible glory of God had me fighting tears.
Our legs were tiring of our walk in the soft fluid sand, but I may as well have been floating along the coast. I felt that not a thing could weigh my soul down in that moment; what is sorrow or worry when I am thinking of Heaven?
Our walk, and our conversation, ended in this sentence which we both agreed was a wonderful refrain to keep in our hearts for moments of great happiness on earth:
"My heart is full... but Heaven will be so much better."
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