Teganjaz Books Presents... Author, Tracy L. Darity

A couple of months ago, after I had dropped my daughter off at tennis practice I found myself sitting at a traffic light with tears streaming down my face…uncontrollable tears that didn’t seem to have any end. Prior to reaching the traffic signal, a song came on the radio that I had never heard before. The lyrics were so beautiful but more than anything they ministered to what I was feeling at that very moment. The song, “Long As There is You,” by The McClurkin Project say’s, if there were no gates of pearl, if there were no streets of gold, if there was no other world, in a land where we won't grow old…I'm not thinking about those sites, won't be there to enjoy the view, I think Heaven will be alright, just as long as You’re there, as long as there is You.

My daddy passed away October 10, 2009, and for the first time in my life I asked myself, “What if there is no Heaven?” I have loved the Lord for as long as I can remember. I have always put my trust in Him. I know He is real because there is no other explanation for how I have been able to deal with the loss of my earthly father. As a little girl, even into my early adult life, I use to ask God to let me die before my daddy because I just didn’t think I could bear living without him. But here it is some 8 months later and my Heavenly Father continues to console me and reassure me that everything is going to be alright.

Growing up we were taught never to question God, just trust and obey. But it is simply human nature to wonder about the things that are unseen. One thing that has always plagued me is the concept that when we die and go to heaven there will be no more suffering, no more heartache, and most important, we will see our loved ones again. The thing for me has been; what if your loved one doesn’t go to heaven. Will there be no remembrance of that person? Will they cease to exist in our psyche, and if not, wouldn’t that cause heartache?

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe with all my heart and soul that my daddy is going to Heaven, and I pray that I will be there with him one day. I recall talking to a friend after his death and I asked him some of these questions and he said to me, “I believe when we die we are just dead, that there is nothing else, no rapture, no Heaven, no nothing.” I thought his comments were callous and cold-hearted, and even frightening coming from someone who professed to be a Christian and attend church on a regular basis. Of late, it seems that no matter where I turn there is some contradiction to the whole concept of Heaven and an afterlife. It makes the healing process that much harder because as with most of us, we want to go to Heaven and see our loved ones again.

;I keep my daddy’s memory stored safely in my heart where I can feel his presence at will. The song ends with, when we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be, when we all see Jesus, we will sing and shout the victory. I hold steadfast that there is a Heaven and it will be that much better because my daddy will be there too.

Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there, I love you and wish you a wonderfully Blessed day!

Much Love,

Tracy

Tracy L. Darity is the award winning author of “He Loves Me He Loves Me Not!” and her second novel “ Love…Like Snow In Florida On A Hot Summer Day.”

© Tracy L. Darity 2010