by Dr. Peter Stuart

A strange thought I know. Assuming you are going to Heaven, how old do you think you'll be and does God see you as your current age? Or, does he see you as your ideal age (whatever that may be). When He sees you does he see a 21, 49 or 75 year old?

When it comes to aging, an image I have is that of a Travelator. You know, the flat escalator you see at the airport. God has given each one of us our own Travelator that moves us through this life. Of course we are all on the same date on our Travelator - today's date. For the younger ones their Travelator up to this point is shorter than for those that have been around for a while.

Our Travelator is moving. Time is passing. We do not know where the end of our Travelator will be. We can't slow it down. Most definitely we can make the movement or "Journey" more pleasant by taking care of ourselves spiritually, mentally and physically. Or, we can make it not so pleasant by neglecting these things. When we get to the end and pass on into eternity we are no longer under the confines of "The Travelator". We have arrived!

I suppose the reason I'm thinking this way is because I recently had a birthday and I realize I'm not getting any younger. I know I have the choice to resist or embrace the fact that I'm moving further down my Travelator.

But what is age anyway? The way I understand it, in Heaven my daughters, Alix and Jordan, will be my sisters (in Christ). Come to think of it my Mother will also be my sister. So what do I do with this change in perspective? If this is the case how should we live and interact with other people now? How should we relate to our friends, family, co-workers etc..? I think we should worry less about the smaller, non-eternal problems and try to focus more on the things that matter - beyond the "Travelator".

I will leave you to ponder the following quote by Elizabeth Barrett Browning: “Earth’s crammed with Heaven and every common bush afire with God; but only he who sees takes off his shoes.”

How much of Heaven are you seeing in your journey here on earth?