Something Akin to Rapture

When the boys were little we went to the Virginia Creeper Trail. That is a rails to trails pathway that starts on the top of a steep mountain and goes downhill for 37 miles. We took a tram to the top and then we coasted downhill all day. That is only a slight exaggeration. There were many miles of just a slight downhill slope, so peddling was occasionally required. It wound through beautiful mountain forests along a stream most of the way, and then it flattened out, through the valley of farmland and pasture. It was quite beautiful, relatively easy, and all of us loved it. It filled my spirit with something akin to rapture.

I am grateful for memories like that, for days when all one does is effortless coasting. They shore me up for the inevitable uphill battles that always follow. There is no downhill without an uphill.

It is good that I have paintings and photos of that day. My memory is horrible, and even that wonderful event sometimes fades. I reread the Bible from front to back over and over again partially for the same reason. I can never remember it all...and I want to. That is why I love Acts 7, when Stephen recounts the entire history of the Jewish people from Abraham to Christ. It helps me keep all those Patriarchs straight, and is an amazing synopsis of God's miraculous provision for His people. Stephen coasts through that history with glowing enthusiasm, and apparently a spell-bound audience, and then at the end accuses his listeners of killing the clearly prophesied Messiah, and is stoned to death. So much for his coasting along with the speed of light through thousands of years of God's greatness!

All of us will eventually hit the uphill part of the journey. It is good to remember that God's greatest heroes hit those rough patches too. But in the end, before Stephen closed his eyes, he saw God Himself and all the glory of Heaven. I suspect he closed his eyes to mortality with something akin to rapture.

Acts 7:55-56 (NIV)
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. [56] “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”


PS- today and tomorrow, Turning Points- the Life of a WWII Milne Bay Gunner , will be free as an e-book in honor of Veterans Day. Please send one to a veteran you know and love! And tomorrow, Sunday, from 2-3, the veteran the book honors will be at Park Road Bookstore in Charlotte signing copies purchased at the bookstore.





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