Cruel Peters at one end and Dancing Primates on the other

Maybe there’s a heaven. Maybe there isn’t.
We won’t know for certain until the lights go out.

Yesterday I went to a viewing, and today the funeral services. A friend died. She was a kind person, and had one of the warmest smiles I’d ever seen on a human being. It was authentic. If there’s a heaven, I sure would bet she is there.

Then there are some others.
Today is the birthday of one of the rulers of Spain, of long ago.

Peter the Cruel.
He got the name for a darn good reason. To begin with, he was cruel. I read the whole wiki-britannic-bio-blurbs on him. Apparently, there were a lot of bastards in his life. The accounts of his life were filled with bastard-brothers, and bastard-sons, and on. And he would murder them, without batting an eye. When he was 19 he got married. Her name was Blanche of Bourbon. Who wouldn’t marry Blanche of Bourbon? Apparently he liked Sangria better, because he ditched his wife two days after they were married, and took up with his secret wife Maria de Padilla. Yes, in general, he seemed to be a pretty rough customer.

Born on August 30, 1334, in Burgos, Spain. He died 34 years later. Go figure. He was murdered.

Every day there is a story about someone, somewhere.
Most of the accounts we see in the news don’t seem to be heaven indicators. They are just things. Kids getting Werewolf Syndrome. Tennis players battling it out at the U.S. Open. Trump’s personal aide calling it quits. It’s all the big-ball-turning-in-circles, kind of stories. We just see the surface, and don’t know all the details inside. There could be some heaven factors present, if that’s how it works. Who is to say, really?

Then there is the gorilla. At the Dallas Zoo. They gave this guy a little swimming pool, and his reaction was sheer elation. You’ve probably seen it, but here it is, again.

Now, if that isn’t an indication of jubilation, I’m not sure what is. I can almost hear the Angels singing. And it sounds a little like the theme for Flashdance.

There might be a heaven. Because, sometimes, during our every day of things, we get a little glimpse of it. The smile on someone’s face when they are happy. A bowl of chocolate fudge brownie ice cream. Sunlight as it peaks over the edge of the horizon for the first wink of the day.

Somehow, today, I hope you find a little piece of that heaven.
And also, the peace of it.

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“Earth’s crammed with heaven…
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh

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“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”
― Henry David Thoreau, Walden

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“Now comes the mystery!” (last words)
― Henry Ward Beecher

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