We drove the Kancamagus Highway in early October, prime time for the spectrum of Fall colors… but it wasn’t. The colors were beginning to pop, but they hadn’t hit peak yet. In fact, many of the colors had yet to change. Smiles kept remarking on how sad he felt for all the people that had spent their year planning a trip for peak-color season in New England, yet would have to drive/fly home before the colors fully unveiled themselves.
As we crested the tops of the mountains, the layers of mountains become more and more veiled by layers of fog. He kept remarking. And I kept saying that I thought the fog was beautiful. We agreed that we could return next year to try to see them again, in all their radiant glory. 
Even as he spoke, I fell more and more in-love with the fog hiding the peaks of the mountains in the distance. Finally it occurred to me why I loved it.
It reminded me of heaven.
There are small glimmers we get of heaven, through the Word, through the Church, through nature, yet most of it has yet to be unveiled. There is a fog hiding it. It has not shown itself in full-spectrum yet. The lack leaves us with a longing. Just like I long to return to New Hampshire next Fall, to see what those mountains look like, layer upon layer of red, orange, yellow, green, and maroon, I also long for heaven. I long to see the Glory of what it will be like when all the people of God are surrounding the everlasting Throne, perfected in worship and unity. The glimmers leave me pining for what’s to come. The fog leaves me wondering what is behind the layers of mountains I can see from this vantage point.
In the meantime, I will rejoice in what I can see, waiting for what I can’t. And I will ever return with joy and delight to the place of my longing. Samuel Rutherford once said, “If contentment were here, heaven were not heaven.” I concede with that dear, old brother, who now sees all the glories to come. And I look forward to seeing what treasures lie ahead.
