From A CNN Story on Visions of Heaven

Here:
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=WWPWPPNX

I wish I could draw or do some kind of visual art. I have no artistic talent of this type. I barely have talent at dancing, and I'm an okay writer, but I can't draw, paint, or anything else. I envy this young girl and her ability to paint what she sees.

I do know what it is like to see the things she sees though. She seems to have visions beatific without the hellish visions, which isn't surprising given her youth. Children are so much closer to God, usually. And when you hear her talk you realize she's probably even closer than most. But even my more 'hellish' visions have religious significance. And as much as they hurt, and they do, they can be instructive and motivating. They help keep me grounded, and don't allow me to turn away from sin and suffering of all types. I know the hell the world can be. I see the hell, all the time.

But I see the heaven too. And it is so wonderful it is worth the other, truly. The girl talks about the colors of heaven and that is a common theme in such visions, the idea that there are colors beyond the ones we know. That is my experience as well. When I've had heavenly visions I've seen things I have no language for, including colors beyond the ones we know.

I like her vision of God too. It sounds familiar. She talks about God as light and that is a common experience for me. Yet she also talks about Him as very incarnate, as a common everyday man. That, too, I know well. This girl's descriptions are so close to my own. I've seen what she's seen. I just can't express it visually as she can.

I could, I suppose, write more about my visions. I could give detailed descriptions, but I always thought writing about those types of things can be egoistic. Somehow, and it would be interesting to think why, drawing it doesn't have the same kind of taint to it. I've shared some of my visions with other people, I've written some details down here and there. But I don't think I would feel right sharing them on this blog. Instead I just try to use what I see and let it inform my theology and therefore my reflections here. In the end, that is all I really am, a so-so theologian who can from time to time capture his vision in some little droplet of wisdom. But I'm happy with that station. It is more than I deserve. And it is, as all things, a gift from Above.