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Heaven with the In-Laws at the
Bowling Alley
Yesterday I
was invited to go bowling with my wife's extended family as part of
a fund raiser for their family reunion. I was not looking forward
to it at all. I don't quite know why, but I have not yet begun to
really feel comfortable with her side of the family. I do feel
comfortable around her mother and a couple of her aunts and uncles,
and even some of her cousins, but for some reason when they all come
together I feel out of place. Anyway, I was not looking forward to
this event. Also I forgot to mention, that they had another bowling
event that I went to a few months ago, and I did not enjoy myself at
all. In the morning as I thought about all of this, I decided to
open up my book Wise Words for some insight. As
usual I opened it up to a random page. I read “As Many Times as Leaves
on A Willow Tree.” This is what I read:
A student
asked his teacher, “Master how many times must I return to this
earth to be reborn for more lessons?” The teacher replied, “Oh,
three or four”. “Why so many times?” asked the student. The master
said, “In that case, maybe five or six”. Another student asked the
master the same question. “How many times will I have to return to
this earth for more lessons before enlightenment?” The teacher
pointed outside and said, “As many times as leaves on a willow
tree.” The student asked, “Will you be there with me?” The teacher
replied, “Every step of the way.” The student was very happy.
The second
student was much more advanced than the first. It does not
matter where we go or what we go through, in this life or the next,
as long as we know we have God, the Master with us, and we embrace
and enjoy our adventure along the way. If we have the vision, and
we can see the Father, we are in Heaven no matter where we go.
After reading this, I quickly
realized that I was behaving like the first student. By dreading
the bowling event I was definitely acting like the first less
realized student. I was pretty much asking God. "Master, how many
times must I go to these events?" "That many?" I decided that this
time I would be the second more realized student, and be happy
because I had God with me. I even asked "Is it possible that I
could have a good time?" There is no coincidence that I opened up
to this page. This was in the morning of the event.
Somewhere in
the middle of the day I reminded myself that if God is with me and I
am realizing it, I will enjoy my time at this event. Well, we went
and I have to admit, although I was trying to be little upbeat, I
was not really enthused. Like the other time, we were placed away
from the family members who will usually talk to me. This time we
were near some people whom my wife did not even know. Taylor my
step-daughter, who is very much a comfortable part of her mom’s
family clan, stayed and bowled with us, instead of with her
cousins. Mylan and Cory, my children from my first marriage, seemed
to be looking forward to bowling
although I
could tell that they also felt somewhat out of place. I decided to
really
get into it, too.
Then I had
another problem: all the balls left were for ladies or too small.
My turn came up, and I said, “I can't bowl. All the balls are too
small. I'll sit out.” The men on the lane with us, whom I did not
know, said "No way. You're not getting off that easy. Use one of
our balls." So I bowled. The kids and I had such a good time
laughing, cracking jokes, and giving high fives with our new
friends, I did not even want to leave! My new friends, the men,
women and children on the lane with us, were so cool, it seemed like
I knew them my whole life. We seemed to be having more fun than
anyone else there. At one point I said to myself, “These people are
so cool. I feel like God sent them to me.”
Later on when
we got home, I remembered the story about the willow tree and the
second student. I remembered the question I had asked when I
briefly opened up my mind to possibilities. "Is it possible that I
could enjoy this event? After all, God will be there with me?"
Of course the
answer was that it does not matter where I go or what I go through
as long as I have the Father with me and look for Him in my world, I
will be in heaven. I must say it was so true that I found Heaven on
the bowling alley, with my in-laws.
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