"Paradise-may it be all the name implies". Reads the bumper stickers around town.
Sounds simple enough....because I happen to live in Paradise, a small town nestled in the foothills of the Sierra mountains of California.
But.......I started thinking about Paradise........what is it, really? Is it a place at all, and do I live there? Is it someplace we go when we die? Is it a sandy beach with cabana boys and margaritas? The Garden of Eden? A little town in the hills?
Or..........could it be that Paradise isn't a place at all. Could it be a matter of how we look at our life. Can we live in Paradise anywhere? Can we all slide our feet into its sandy beach and enjoy the serenity and peace we envision Paradise to hold? Is Paradise something we hold inside of each and every one of us...........different for each one.......but yielding joy just the same?
I am challenged to ponder on this idea, to mull it over and and wrestle with it. In a world where our surroundings influence our moods and attitudes and even our outlook on life itself......I wonder if it is possible to push aside the physical and concentrate on Paradise in our hearts and in our minds.......to live there, to find God there, to find our true selves there, to love others there and to embrace our lives there.
To share in the ordinary and find something extraordinary in everything......
1 comment:
I really enjoyed reading this. For me Paradise is being content with what God has provided and where He has placed you for now. Paradise for me is life as I know it right now....7 months before my oldest flies the coop and heads off for college. Paradise is now, before the change. But I know, God will give me the grace to learn to love life then too, a new Paradise.....
Great job Rachel, your blog looks great!
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