Rev. E. Anderson
ONLY GLIMPSES
Alice Gray
Laurel knew she was dying. Over the weeks, we often talked about heaven-what it would look like and how it would be to live there. It seemed we always ended I crying and then holding each other tight in gentle hugs of hope.
The hardest part was trying to imagine something we had never seen, something about which we knew only a little.
And then I remembered this story-
The young girl with the blond hair and the deep blue eyes had been blind since birth. When she was twelve, the doctors were able to perform a new type of surgery that, if successful, would give her the gift of sight. The outcome would not be known for several days. After the bandages were removed, her eyes had to be protected from the light. So she sat in darkness, waiting.
The mother spent long hours answering her daughter’s questions about what things looked like and what she should expect. They were both so excited about the possibility on being able to see that neither of them slept much. Over and over, even in the darkness, they talked about every lovely thing they could imagine – colours, shapes, beauty of every kind.
Finally the moment came when the young girl’s eyes could endure enough light for her look out the window. She stood there for a long time without saying a word. Outside, the spring day was ideal – bright and warm with fluffy white clouds decorating the blue sky. Lacy blossoms sprinkled to the ground like pink snow as soft breezes stirred the cherry trees. Yellow crocuses proudly lined the brick walkway that wound across the grass.
When the girl turned back to her mother, tears were alarming down her cheeks. “Oh, Mother, Why didn’t you tell me it would be so beautiful?”
I shared this story with my friend. Tears filling my own eyes: “Laurel, right now we’re sitting in the darkness, but before long you will be asking God the same question.”
Barnabas Ministries UK 