A glimpse, everafter....

Heaven. From an earthly perspective or interpretation, the great hereafter always seems just beyond our reason and understanding. I remember sitting through sermons at church when I was young. When the pastor spoke of the reality of hell I was usually on the edge of my seat, fearfully picturing in my minds eye a vividly descriptive and horrible place devoid of a loving God's presence. Hell wasn't a difficult concept to grasp or understand, even at a young age. Yet, when anyone made an effort to describe a place called heaven, never was a lasting impression made on me or awe inspired in me. It has always fascinated me that any attempt to conceptualize heaven from down here on earth falls terribly short of what the Kingdom of Almighty God must truly be like. From movies to books, theological explanations to artistic impressions, the wonder of heaven seems ever elusive. For myself, hope is founded in the meeting, one day, of my Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, face to face, knowing that to be in His presence is what brings heaven into perspective here and now, from my limited understanding. The mystery of heaven creates in us all a healthy longing to return 'home' which will be fulfilled, according to God's plan, at the perfect time. I do believe that we are allowed glimpses of heaven as we walk through this life. I personally tend to catch those glimpses when out in nature, miles from the busyness of life, where you can't get a signal on a cel phone, when time itself seems to slow and come to a stand still. I took this picture in Yoho National Park in August, while hiking and camping one weekend. In the moment there was such a peace that came standing there in the mountains beside this lake. God's presence became very clear in this moment, uninterrupted, and here I caught a glimpse...everafter.

What's the Craic?

NB: For those of you unfamiliar with irish sayings "craic" is derived from a gaelic word that alludes to the unmistakable combination of chat, laughter, music and the special atmosphere that accompanies these things. I like to think of it as having a good time, enjoying the company of others, friendship, fun and a lot more besides.

NB: For those of you with whom I work, the use of the word "craic" in this instance bears no relation whatsoever to the illegal drug, crack, maunfactured from cocaine to become smokeable, so there is no need to fill out any Occurance Reports. Thanks!


So, this be my maiden voyage into the blogging fray. It is my hope that on this voyage i'll have the opportunity to share some good craic with you all. Everybody is welcome and if I can hold your attention for 30-60 seconds, well, it's a mighty feat in my books! I tend to process the majority of life's events and happening's via the left side of my brain, so the results can be quite colourful or completely baffling. I have gained some skill in using the right side of my brain to tackle such skills as structure and organisation, although at times they still seem very foreign to me. So, there may be some days when this blog has some nice structure and organisation to it but please don't expect it on a consistent basis. I will only let you down. My alpologies to all you "righties." I'm sure it was a wise southpaw that once uttered "Right is nice but left is best!"

So hey, kick back, somebody put on the tunes and enjoy the atmosphere...