Category Archives: Hope

The View from Here

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by Rebecca D. Higgins

After the lockdowns of Covid, a very different work opportunity from what I had done in the past opened up as families chose to keep their elderly loved ones at home and needed help to care for them. It has been my privilege to provide dignity and compassionate care for a number of individuals suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s, debilitative illnesses, and even a stroke survivor. Several I have had the honor to help “walk them home” and make their final days here on earth as comfortable as possible. Duane was one of those precious individuals who suffered from the effects of Alzheimer’s. I was amazed, however, at how insightful he sometimes was even then. He was a gentleman and the epitome of kindness. His love for the Lord shone through even to the very end.

Duane’s favorite place to be was sitting on the front porch, and I enjoyed many hours with him there. Sometimes he would nap a bit, and at other times he would look around with a smile and sense of wonder on his face as he took in the beauty of the varied colors of leaves, the butterflies and birds flitting by, the deer and turkeys that wandered across the yard, and the play of sunlight across the lawn as it filtered through the trees. “This is it!” he would declare as he waved his arms to take in the scene. “It’s beautiful! God did all this!” And I would agree! I often felt, however, as we sat on the porch that what Duane saw went beyond the yard to the beauty that is to come.

When we would make trips into town for various appointments, along the way Duane would frequently get confused as to where he was; but the minute we turned into the winding lane and he saw the house with the front porch through the trees, he had instant recognition. He was home!

On a rainy Sunday night in August 2024, as Duane was making his final journey, I believe he looked up and saw the Father come out onto the front porch of heaven to welcome him, and he had no question as to where he was! He was finally HOME!

I know that we use earthly metaphors to describe heaven because it goes beyond what our finite minds can begin to comprehend or imagine. I think that’s okay since Jesus himself used the metaphor of a house with many rooms, and somehow I think there just might be a front porch!

When Duane and I would sit on the front porch, his dog was also our companion. While I have several precious photos of Duane enjoying the view from here, out of respect for his privacy, I chose not to use one of them in this public forum. Instead, I snapped this photo of Duane’s dog sitting in his front porch chair the day after Duane was welcomed into his eternal home.

After Duane’s passing, I couldn’t help thinking about what he was experiencing and what he might tell those who mourned his absence. The following poem is the result:

The View from Here

If you could see what I see now,
You’d look upon His face;
You’d bow your knees in gratitude
For mercy and for grace;
You’d marvel at the beauty that
Is far beyond compare–
The Tree of Life, the crystal sea,
The saints all gathered there.
You’d stand with me and sing His praise
Forever without end
For Christ who gave His life to be
Our Savior and our Friend,
So whosoever will may come
By faith to enter in
The home prepared by God himself
Who’s cleansed us from all sin.
If I could make just one more wish,
I’d wipe away your tear
And bring you home to heaven’s porch
To see the view from here.
(RDH–August 23, 2024)

Cloudy Days

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by Rebecca D. Higgins

One of the features that I like about Facebook is that each day it pulls up memories of things you have posted on that date in previous years.

This morning in the midst of the turmoil of the Covid 19 crisis, I was reminded of a beautiful truth as I read a memory from 2015.

March 26, 2015

The last couple of mornings as I drove to work, I was privileged to be a front-row observer of spectacularly beautiful sunrises.

This morning was a different story. The rain had already started when I stepped out of my apartment and headed to my car. As I merged onto the interstate, the clouds were heavy and dark, and the rain poured, greatly limiting visibility. But then I saw it! A glance to the east revealed a glow through the clouds where the sun was still rising as it does every day. It was a beautiful reminder that even when the storm clouds are darkest and dump rain on our lives, the sun is still there. The storm won’t last forever, and we WILL see the sun burst through the clouds in time.
If you’re facing a storm today, just know that the SON is still there even if the clouds seem to obscure Him momentarily from your view. Trust Him in the dark, and you will once again see His Light burst through the clouds to guide your way.

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The Message of the Bells

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by Rebecca D. Higgins

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The gold-plated weighted stocking hangers on my mantle are letters that spell out the word J-0-Y. I’ll be honest–this past week “Joy to the World” hasn’t exactly been the song bursting from my lips! While Scripture talks about making a joyful noise to the Lord, I’m not sure that the noises that have been emitting from my mouth have sounded joyful at all. Can groans and moans be joyful?

The groaning has come not only in response to excruciating physical pain caused by a kidney stone, but also as I have heard reports this week from various places of pain inflicted on others by injustice and hasty judgments and as I contemplate the wars still impacting so many in our world. It hurts me to see others hurt.

I find myself identifying this Christmas season with the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (a lifelong favorite, by the way). After the death of his beloved wife Fanny in a tragic fire that left the poet badly burned and scarred in 1861, Longfellow lost a bit of his ability to get into the Christmas spirit. In his 1861 journal, he wrote, “How inexpressibly sad are the holidays.” The following year still suffering from his personal loss and the ravages of the ongoing Civil War, his Christmas journal entry was stark: “A Merry Christmas say the children, but that is no more for me.” There was no journal entry the following Christmas, the year that his oldest son Charles, a lieutenant in the Union army, was severely injured in the war.

On Christmas Day in 1864, as Longfellow awoke to the sound of church bells, a joyous sound that seemed to be mocking him, all of the emotions of the past few years pressed in as he wrestled with faith in the midst of sorrow and injustice. He penned the words to a poem he titled “Christmas Bells.” His melancholy mood comes through in the words, “And in despair I bowed my head, there is no peace on earth, I said. For hate is strong and mocks the song of peace on earth, goodwill to men.” And I will admit that sometimes in weeks like this those words do seem to express reality.

However, as the bells continued to ring–their song of hope, of joy, of peace–Longfellow was reminded that the message of Christmas is that God in His love and mercy did not turn a blind eye or a deaf ear to a groaning, moaning world filled with injustice and hate. Instead, He entered it as one of us. He came as the Prince of Peace but suffered through false accusations, a mock trial, an excruciating death, but a triumphant resurrection. In so doing, He became our Redeemer.

In listening to the song of the bells Longfellow was finally able to state with faith and certainty what he knew to be true no matter what things “seemed” to be–a fact that is still true for us today. “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep. The wrong shall fail, the right prevail with peace on earth goodwill to men.” We may not see the right prevail exactly at the time we would choose, but one day all WILL be made right and PEACE will reign!

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this” (Isaiah 9:6-7 NIV).