My definition of Heaven

My new definition of Heaven- “Mangosteens everyday”. OK, well maybe that is a bit hedonistic, but if ever there were ambrosia suited to the Gods, mangosteens would certainly top the list far above durian (the smell of which for some might qualify as eternal torment!)

                                   

The problem with heaven however, seems to be the cost to get there. At least that’s what the devil would have us think- the cost is too high for us, and “Oh, by the way, I have a cheaper surrogate over here…” I found some mangosteens for sale the other morning on my way back from a jog around the local park. I asked how much they were, and heard only the last digits, and thought to myself, “Wow, that’s great! There must have been a bumper crop.” So I asked for two kilos, thinking that we would have even more reason to think of our stay in Ho Chi Minh City as heavenly. But the puzzled look on the fruit-sellers face when I  handed her my paltry sum for her treasure let me know that I had missed something in translation. But by then I was committed, and fortunately grace (my wallet) was with me and I had enough additional cash to not lose face by asking her to put all but 200 grams of them back on display! Well they are still delicious, especially when chilled.

Ironically however, the cost of discipleship, the cost to truly follow Christ, is at the same time everything, and yet also purchased “without money or without price.” The king of the Lamanites avowed before God after hearing the missionary Aaron teach him of his divine nature, that he would indeed give up everything he possessed, even his whole kingdom, to know him. That willingness was later required of him, or at least his son, who with his people left their kingdom in the midst of religious persecution, for a life in a new land, living "after the manner of happiness."

While none of the native kings and queens we have met have made this bargain, we nevertheless see people making great sacrifices to taste the heavenly fruit. Ha, who literally ran, dripping wet, from the baptismal font to go upstairs to change, was filled with joy and exclaimed "Awesome!" as he made his way upstairs. Elder V, whose family nigh disowned him when he chose to serve a mission rather than enter into the family business and get married, and indeed whose girlfriend (whom he dearly adored,) also cut relations with him at his departure, has likewise tasted the "heavenly fruit" of his choice, perhaps more greatly enhanced by the sacrifices needed to partake.

To switch analogies, Vietnam is a producer of pearls, with many fine high quality pearls marketed here and exported to the rest of the world. But we see day after day many who willingly trade those or other treasures for the one pearl of great price that the Master Jesus Christ spoke of, membership in the Kingdom of Heaven. 

As Brigham and Heber shouted, so do we "Hurrah for Israel!"

        

Petals on the sidewalk

                              

As I walked to the chapel today to participate in some training sessions with our leaders and visiting specialists from Hong Kong, I passed through some of Hanoi's residential neighborhoods, and past some schools. May is a beautiful month here. It offers the delights of many of the flowering trees. These lagerstroemia trees offered their beauty to anyone willing to notice. the blossoms were above me as I walked by, but also scattered beneath my feet. At times one might also find them in the hair of a young girl.

With many streets lined totally by these trees, the effect can at times be overwhelming. It should not surprise one then that the neomodern impressionists in Hanoi, also find these a suited subject for their essays in oils.

       

The orange petals of a Phuong tree next greeted me as I walked along, again coloring the sidewalk, and here gracing a schoolyard where students play beneath it. I've long associated the time when this tree blossoms with the season when the very best mangos appear in the markets. But now it seems also to be a harbinger of a season of heat and harvest soon ahead.

                              

        

These too have captured the interest of the painter, though I may be mistaken; or perhaps artistic license has taken liberty with the leaves and manner of growth. We do sometimes bend our perceptions to what we would like to see.   

           

The limits of the color palate in this season and the encounters during my brief walk were not yet reached as I passed the Phuong tree. Close by were yellow petals on the sidewalk and a few meters further along, red petals from another tree offering its contribution to the beauty of this spring day.

                      

                              

                              

We may miss the vibrant color-splashed hillsides of a New England autumn when every tree displays its best pigments in the days before winter, and we may not be blessed to see the acres of tulip fields blooming in unison, or even the glee of the dogwoods coloring the undergrowth of a northeastern forest, but we have joy in the day and the beauty where we are if we can lift up our eyes and behold.

We see beauty in the lives coming into blossom around us here. Our young missionaries and our senior couples alike, seem to have their own hues of bright color and joy as they lose their lives in His service. And although they are most often clothed in white, the magnificence of light and brilliance in seeing someone enter the waters of baptism and emerge committed to following Jesus Christ, cleansed of past wrongs and under the protective covenant of continuing forgiveness as they progress in sacramental increments on the path of repentance, is a sight we never tire of sharing. What joy there is in the spring day of the kingdom in Vietnam!