Where are the Gates of Heaven?

I tuned in recently to our local NPR station (90.1 FM) and was greeted by a magnificent choral piece that (perhaps because I am a Jew) I didn’t immediately recognize. I quickly grabbed my i-phone and tapped the Shazam icon to learn what I was listening to was the Ave Maria from the soundtrack of the film, The Mission. It was so stunningly beautiful that I wondered if I was fortunate enough after I die to enter the Gates of Heaven, would I hear such exquisite music.

Then I thought to myself could there be anything else on earth comparable to the enchanting melody I was hearing. Would I have to die to encounter such beauty as only an approach to the Gates of Heaven would afford?

No! I shouted to myself. The Gates of Heaven and such beguiling music await us each day we live here on earth. Every time we can bring a smile to another’s countenance, every act of kindness, every act of love, every compassionate deed, every gentle way we touch another human being, all create incomparable beauty and a glimpse at the Gates of Heaven.

AMS