​Realized Eschatology

They say that when we pass
from this life to the next there is 
a tunnel and  a welcoming
light at the end. 

I say as I walk through the wooded 
canopy of green toward the 
shimmering light on Ore Pond 
that this is eternal life now ...
and death too. 

They say in heaven the streets 
are paved with gold. 

I say that the blanket of pine needles 
shimmering with golden luminescence 
remind me that I am alive today. 

They say that in heaven flowers 
grow with a rainbow of colors. 

I say as I gaze at the lilies of the valley 
and the bright blue Spring flowers 
on the path that with only a simple 
acknowledgement we can 
see eternity in a single petal. 

They say that we shall be reunited 
with those who have gone before us. 

I say they are already here 
having not gone anywhere 
just living in a different time. 

They say that God will take 
us from the suffering of this life 
to stand with the Angels in a 
circle of  unending praise. 

I say that that 
time and space is here and now
as I walk on this path 
my heart singing hymns of 
praise in harmony with the birds.  

Now I wonder, could hell be 
that time and place we touch 
when we stake our lives on what "they" 
say and all our longing and 
heart's desire lie always in 
some other time and place 
just beyond our reach?

All one morning in the 
woods at Double Trouble. 

​TLC