We all love miracles; but what in the whole world could be the greatest of miracles? Indian Epics say that it is the phenomenon of death. We all know that death is inevitable; none of the comforts and pleasures we enjoyed on earth can be taken along with us when we pass from this world to the next. And yet man is occupied day and night thinking of how to accumulate wealth in whatever ways and means and he works hard to amass and hoard it as much as he can. What else could be a greater paradox in this world?
According to a story, a man began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him. One day an angel appeared and informed the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathered his largest suitcase and filled it with pure gold bars and placed it beside his bed. He died and showed up at the gates of heaven with his precious collection. St Peter, at the gates, seeing the suitcase, said, "Hold on, you cannot bring that in here!" The man explained that he had permission and asked him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough, St Peter checked it out, came back and said, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through." St Peter opened the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man had found too precious to leave behind and exclaimed, "You brought pavement?" To the astonishment of the man, he found that all the streets of the heavenly city were paved with pure gold.
Real or imaginary be the stories on death, they all point to the one truth that heavenly joy is not the physical pleasure we are accustomed to here on earth and we have to be a little more cautious about what we are chasing after here. We mistakenly think that what makes us successful and rich is the amount of cash and transitory wealth we have in hand and bank. But our greatest wealth is the good that we wish and do for others. This will bring us true happiness and heavenly joy even on this earth.
