by Nancy Linenkugel
Contributor
Recently I was on the road driving from an out-of-town meeting late in the afternoon and headed across town to an evening rehearsal, so I decided to stop for a bite to eat. I wouldn't be anywhere close to home. It was an easy time of day with hardly any other customers, so I was waited on immediately by Kasandra.
After the usual how-are-you's I remarked, "What a beautiful weather day we're having." She said, "Any day when you're still alive and can get out of bed is a beautiful day."
So we chatted about that for a few moments. She added, "My mom always taught me to appreciate life. We don't know when it will end. We have no idea what the next life will be like."
I responded, "Maybe heaven is right here and we just don't know it."
"Oh, Lordy, I couldn't take that," she exclaimed, as she put one hand over her brow and shook her head negatively.
"I'm thinking of the good things about this life only," I interjected." What if heaven was really our five best moments while on Earth. Think something happy, something positive, something wonderful, something you hated to have end. What if that was heaven?"
Kasandra paused for a moment and then exclaimed, "Well, why should it only be the five best moments? Why not 10 – or why not the best moments from our last five months on Earth? That would teach us to really appreciate this precious gift of life since we won't know when those five months start."
Indeed it would.
[Sr. Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio.]