Except in Paradise, you presumably don’t need to worry about ticks even if you literally live in the forest.

As I was walking along the road to the shop (as usual on Saturdays), I noticed how beautiful the scenery was, like I was walking among carefully selected photographs. The sun was bright, but not burning. It was quiet, the farms and homes seeming to rest in the early summer light. Fields still were dark with newly broken soil, and in one of them a flock of seagulls were rooting for worms. Most of the land is grassy fields though, green where not dotted with flowers. In smaller pastures, a few sheep were grazing with their lambs by their side. In the distance, a couple children were playing, their excited voices carrying far in the stillness.

I was thinking about what a friend wrote the other day, that this land was similar to Heaven. It is indeed. It reminds me of the Realm of the Good, the resting place of those who lived their life on Earth with gratitude and in harmony. In Heaven, they are given whatever they wish for, because their wishes are always simple and honest and pleasing to others as well as themselves, if not more so. It is a beautiful place, as is the soul of such people. Seeing it in my mind’s eye, for a moment I thought that I would not mind staying forever in a place like that.

But that is not true, of course, and my heart corrected me quickly. It knows that I cannot avoid looking for that which is beyond even such a place: The Realm of Light, my home, if I can reach it. And for a brief heartbeat or two, the world I saw through my eyes seemed to shimmer, and through it, vaguely, I saw lines or beams of light connecting all things from above. Then, like water lies still when a wave has passed through it, the picture was itself again.

It was such a day that I cannot be sure to see again, no matter where I go, no matter if I live till I am 120. Perhaps I will see sights more beautiful, more paradisaical than this. Or perhaps not. I guess it does not matter all that much. It is also a form of greed, to want the moment to stay. That is not what moments are for. We have eternity for that. And I mean it literally. As I walked the long road that goes like a straight line through the land, there was a temptation to hurry. But immediately I thought: Will I hurry in eternity? Eternity has already begun. It is not like this moment now is separate from eternity. Eternity has always been, we just have not noticed it. And I kept walking.

I guess some days are better for noticing eternity than others. That cannot be helped. We just have to pick those beautiful moments up when we pass through them. There is no other time to live in a moment than when it is there. Like here, now.