Glad to see love is still at the top for Mindsay tags.

Do read http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4753976 article "Mysterious Connections that Link Us Together" by by Azar Nafisi, an elegant Iranian masterpiece of humanity.

Her article reminded me of the herioc Iranian woman I worked with when we taught at another university on the other side of the globe. While we traveled with a group of students to learn more about a topic of interest we were studying at the time, she sang us Iranian songs in a fabulously trained voice and told us of the challenges she and her family endured at the same time that Azar Nafisi may have been dealing with similar difficulties.

My friend also lost her employment at the University of Tehran when women were expelled. She is a lesson in goodness, displaying warmth and love for those of different cultures, even citing a time in Canada when she met with Iraq citizens (Iran and Iraq had heated disputes at that time, with some problems with peace between states). They were so happy to see another of similar interests, yet separated from their homeland region of the world. My friend awarded us all a degree in humanity that evening.

As Azar Nafisi quoted Huck Finn when he "imagines Jim ...as a human being and he decides that, 'alright, then, I'll go to hell.'" Certainly, the definition of Hell changed that day for Jim and for Huck.

It seems a lot like the story of the man who saw a vision of Hell, with people of all races, religions, political stripes and cultures sitting in a gloriously decorated banquet hall, in large circle about a table brimming with culinary delights, yet these people were starving! They were taunted constantly by the rich aroma of nourishment always ready for the taking, but could only look upon their feast as they were forced to use a spoon with a handle too long to reach their plate or their mouth.

The same man then saw Heaven, with a similar large banquet hall with people of all races, religions, political stripes and cultures sitting around a large circular table. Not surprisingly, they were all well fed and enjoying a fine meal even at that time. These people ate, laughed, and ate again as they enjoyed enlightening conversation. But upon closer observation, these people had the exact same spoon of those relegated to Hell. It was too long to reach their plate or their mouth, but these souls blessed their neighbor as they found it easy to feed the one sitting next to them.

I have seen the same vision of heaven by packing an extra sandwich for the lost one living on the street or taking a meal to a sick neighbor. I have noticed one woman quietly work for a decade to organize others, then prepare and deliver meals to a homeless shelter in our area. You can know heaven, too, simply by finding the long handled spoon that is within your reach. 

Thank you NPR and Azar Nafisi for reminding us that heaven is close. It is just a concept away.