Will we find each other in heaven?
Tonight Elkan asked me whether we would find each other in heaven.
He said:”There are so many people in heaven, are you sure we will be able to find each other?”, with tears almost coming out of his eyes.
I told my lovable little boy, :”Of course, we will find each other. When we are in heaven, we will have perfect knowledge, and so once you arrive, you will know where….”
“Mum is there!”, Elkan interjected happily, pointing to a direction.
“… and I will also know immediately – Oh, Elkan is here!”, I continued, “And I will go look for you, and you will be looking for me, and we will probably meet each other halfway.”
“Will we recognise each other? I mean, we will have new bodies, right?”
“Yes, we will take a while, but I will see someone and say – hey, that looks like Elkan – oh, yes, it IS Elkan, and he looks even better than how I remembered him to be! You will see me, and say – hey, that is mum and she looks great!”
And at this point, I proceeded to hug him.
He was delighted, and comforted.
Last night, our family watched a moving Chinese movie titled:”Echoes of the Rainbow 《歲月神偷》”. It was set in old Hong Kong in the 1960s.
In the movie, the elder 16-year old brother – Desmond – was a talented student and sportsman, who was the pride of the family. He loved his family and his 8-year old brother who in turn idolised him. However, Desmond was struck with leukemia and the family was devastated.
One statement which the mother constantly made to encourage the family when they were trying to find a cure for Desmond, was this : “做人，总要信” (In life, one must believe).
In the end Desmond died, and the father died too, a few years later. The younger boy grew up – in many ways like Desmond but in other ways different – and the ending scene had the mother and the brother chatting happily.
Life is often full of pains and sorrows, and death and separation is inevitable. But, as the mother said – we must always believe. I would like to change her statement to – we must have hope.
Tonight, Elkan is assured with the fact that we have the hope of re-uniting, if we were to be separated one day, even by the cruelest separation of all – death.
In life, we must always have hope; a hope that is beyond today; a hope that will last forever. Otherwise all the love which we have encountered, cultivated and treasured, will be pointless and meaningless.
