How Far Is Heaven?
The little boy tugged at his father’s sleeve as they walked home one quiet evening. The sky stretched wide above them, painted in soft shades of pink and gold. After a long silence, the boy asked a question that seemed to hang as heavy as the clouds.
“Dad… how far is Heaven?”
The father slowed his steps, looking down at his son. For a moment, he didn’t answer. Then he smiled gently.
“That’s a big question, son. And the truth is—I don’t know.”
The boy’s brow furrowed.
“Don’t know? Isn’t it up there?”
He pointed toward the fading light above the rooftops.
“Well,”
his father began,
“that depends on what you believe Heaven is. For some people, Heaven is a faraway place where souls go when life here is over. For others, Heaven is closer than you think.”
He stooped down so they were eye to eye.
“Heaven can be the feeling of home when everyone’s together at the dinner table. It can be walking into your grandparents’ house and smelling fresh pies cooling on the counter. It can be the peace of sitting in a quiet cabin deep in the woods. There is no noise but the trees and the wind.”
The boy listened, his eyes wide, as though trying to imagine all those Heavens at once.
“You see, son,”
his father continued,
“Heaven doesn’t have just one location. It can mean different things to different people, at different times in their lives. Sometimes it’s a place, sometimes it’s a feeling. And sometimes, people think of it as a reward beyond this life. But no matter what, it’s something we long for—a place where we belong, where everything feels right.”
The boy was quiet, mulling it over. Then he looked back up at the sky.
“So… Heaven isn’t always far away?”
His father smiled, squeezing his hand.
“No, son. Sometimes, Heaven is right here—closer than we ever imagine.”
As they walked the rest of the way home, the boy noticed the laughter of his mother. She was waiting at the door. He smelled the supper drifting through the air. He felt the warmth of his father’s hand in his own. And for that moment, he decided, Heaven was not far at all.
Reflection
How Far Is Heaven?
By Benjamin Groff II
A boy once asked his father, “How far is Heaven?”
The father said, “That depends. For some, it’s beyond the stars where souls go when life is done. For others, it’s much closer. It is found in the smell of pies at Grandma’s. It is in the quiet of a cabin in the woods or the laughter of family at the dinner table.”
He paused and added, “Heaven is different for everyone, son. Sometimes it’s a dream, sometimes a memory, and sometimes it’s right here, in the moments we hold close.”
The boy thought for a while, then smiled. Heaven, he decided, was not so far away after all.
By Benjamin GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | 2025
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