The Door to Heaven

I like to walk in the green belt near our house while praying the Rosary. One evening a few years ago, as I was walking and praying, I saw an incredible sunset. The sun was behind some towering clouds low in the western sky, and great shafts of light poured down through a hole in the clouds. I was reminded of a Family Circus cartoon I saw once, where the little girl was pointing to a very similar sunset, and she said, “Look Daddy, God left the door to Heaven open!”

As I walked along, praying and admiring Our Lord’s handiwork, the path came up behind some houses and my view of the sunset was obscured. It was still there, of course; I just couldn’t see it. After a short stretch, the path took a turn and I was able to see the sunset again. This happened several more times as I walked down the path which wound through the little trees and houses along the green belt: at times I could see the sunset; other times my view was blocked. It occurred to me that this was just like our spiritual journey. Sometimes we can see very clearly the Lord working in our lives; other times, we cannot feel His presence, and we find ourselves asking, “Are You there, God? Are You there?”

The thing to remember is that He is always there, even if we can’t feel His presence. We just need to keep trudging along, and one day we’ll turn a corner, and there we’ll find the door to Heaven opened.