April 28, 2017 (Friday)
Have you ever been to Yosemite National Park? The first time I saw it was with my family in 1970. (My, oh my, was that really forty-seven years ago)? We had five children, ages three to fifteen. First we visited the awe-inspiring Carlsbad Caverns, then the fabulous, breathtaking Grand Canyon, next we went to Disneyland, billed as “the happiest place on earth.” From there we visited the Sequoia National Forest and saw the magnificent trees in the mountains. After spending the night in Fresno, we drove to Yosemite. Everyone enjoyed the trip.
Here’s a nice picture of Yosemite National Park. Driving north from Fresno, the highway takes you through a tunnel. As you reach the end of the tunnel, Yosemite begins to appear, and suddenly you are there, flabbergasted at the beauty before your eyes. The view reminded me of my own thoughts about Heaven. Beautiful, just beautiful.
Yesterday’s blog was about Ithaca, New York, near the East Coast. Today it’s about Yosemite, near the West Coast. A song title comes to mind: “America, the Beautiful,” along with some of its words, “from sea to shining sea.”
One of the automobile companies had a commercial for several years that urged drivers to “see America first.” Pretty good idea, don’t you think? There’s a lot to see, and a lot to love about this great country we know as our home.
It could also be called our “home away from home,” because our real home is in Heaven.
“For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers: our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding” (1 Chronicles 29:15 KJV). “The roll call of faith,” found in the Book of Hebrews, says of believers, “now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city” (Hebrews 11:16 KJV).