Beyond the Door

Spiritual Story by Mary Seaberg

Sitting in my wheelchair I scan the horizon and beyond I see this home nestled in the woods. I wonder to myself, who lives there, what has their lives been like? Have they witnessed joy, have they experienced sorrow, what is behind those closed doors? I start to paint a picture in my head. I hear the sound of laughter as a family is sitting around a fire talking about the simple pleasures in life.

It is Thanksgiving and the mother says to the family let's do something different this year, lets go around the table and tell each other what you appreciate and are thankful for. Everybody looks at her perplexed trying to think what they will say, they never really thought about it and there is so many possibilities twilling in their heads. So she says lets pray to give us and guide us to the answers that ring true within our hearts. Let's give thanks for the clarity that God will give us the answers from our soul. So they bowed their heads and the woman said, Dear Lord, please give us clarity and grace to say what we feel. We want insight and love to come from our hearts into our words and we thank you for this assistance.

So it began, we all started to think and get a message from beyond. After a few minutes of deep silence, Anna the little girl in the polka dress with ribbons in her hair got so excited she couldn't contain herself. She started bouncing up and down from her chair and you could just feel the excitement spring from her soul. At that moment she said to her mother can I start, can I begin to tell you what God said to me? Her mother said sure darling tell us what he said. So she settled down in her chair and she had this gleam in her eye and you can just see her relax her body as she settled in to tell us her story.

As she spoke she said it was so beautiful, I saw this wonderful figure of an angel, he shone like the moon on a summer night this beautiful bright light. I felt this feeling of total peace as he said to me say what is in your heart, what brings you great joy, what you are thankful for. He said to come sit down upon his lap and let's just think for a moment. So I did, I sat on his lap and looked into his eyes and I thought I was looking into a deep sea of blue. It felt so right; he folded his arms around me as we swayed to the sound of each others hearts beating together as one.

After a few moments things were coming into my head and came so fast I couldn't keep up with the amount of information that came in. Anna said the 1st thing that popped in my head was the love we share as a family, for my mother and my father and my brother. The gifts you give me aren't in the form of a present but in your presence. Just being their when I need you. Like the time Mom when you gave me comfort when I feel down and scrapped my knee. Or Dad when you took us out to my favorite restaurant on my birthday. Or you Pete when I was on the playground and Michael Johnson was making fun of me when I ripped my dress coming off the monkey bars. Or Mom saying I love you even when I probably didn't deserve it.

Next I saw an image of Sassy my pet cat how she weaves in and out of my legs wanting to be petted. I also love the 1st snow, sticking out my tongue and feeling the snow flakes melt in my mouth. And chocolate chip cookies everything about chocolate cookies, making the cookies and licking the bowl. I share them with Pete as he likes to eat the batter from the mixers. Then putting them into the oven and smelling them in the house. And then we pull them out of the oven as mother puts them on a plate and tells us you have to wait a few moments. Otherwise they wouldn't be totally filled with love. If you eat them too early you get a tummy ache because they haven't completed cooking the ingredients together. I ask mother what ingredients are made in the cookies?

She tells me, it has a pinch of love, a dab of hugs and a teaspoon of kisses; it has a cup of cheer and an oz. of joy. But she said the most important ingredient of all is when we roll them in our hands because it then gets a little piece of us inside each of the cookies. The next thing that pops into my head is I see my best friend Katie, I see us giggling in the corner at the playground as we are talking about Charlie and how all the girls just love him because he is just so cute and nice. But she said best of all it is what I feel to be loved and appreciated by all of you.

As tears were running down my cheeks the words of that child that I imagined in my mind hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized I lost that magic when I became wheel chair bound and know how lucky I really am to be alive. How lucky I am that I was the only one hurt in the accident and nobody else was injured or killed. How lucky I am to have people in my life like the people that the little girl said who love me for who I am no matter that I can't walk. So sitting alone I appreciate the simple things in life and know that you are deeply loved and appreciated by all and you are never alone. Because the memories that lie in your heart are called holy moments.