“What if,” and I said this low, almost at a whisper, “it never comes back?”
“I was thinking about this at church,” I continued, “what if I’m just in the dark for the rest of time, and heaven feels super far away, and God stays silent, and…”
“LIES,” he interrupted.
And then he said the word again and again, “Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies, lies,” over and over, as the stronger undercurrent as my verbalized concerns tried to swim in the other direction.
“Listen,” he said, “there is something that we have as an assurance and that is this: heaven.”
Mother Teresa, best known for serving the poor, he reminded, lived most of her earthly days in spiritual darkness…but, at a point, your earthly days are complete. Hello, eternal life/ light.
I smiled.
“There’s something else you once told me,” I said, “and I remember that, too. ‘God will always give you…'”
“‘…the grace necessary for salvation’.” we finished together.
“God will provide,” he said, “I know you’ve been in this place for a long time, but it doesn’t last forever.”
“Also,” he said, “God will give you what you need.”
He was right.
Because, guess what? I just really needed that phone call.
FRO