Heaven is long gone

CC told us that he pole danced so that he could continue scruba diving on an island. He was running out of funds. We all laughed. And then I asked, "So, have you found the meaning of life?" CC stopped laughing and looked at me as if he was stripped naked by my question, "Why do you ask that?"

I answered, "Because most often when a person does things that are out of boundaries of an ordinary living, it is usually because he is searching for the meaning of life."

He answered,"I found it but I lost it when I was 15." He was not casual when he answered that question.

I sighed silently. Another person in emotional pain. Another person who is lying by the wayside, waiting for the devil to sweep him up if he is not strong enough.

He said something else yesterday. In a very low breath, he said, "For me, heaven is long gone." That was stuck on my mind for a while and was still ringing in my mind today. There are millions of things I wanted to say to him at that point to make him believe in heaven again. Didn't I have a "slice of heaven" just last month? For a while, I wanted to be Trent, that dweeb from my story that I am writing, that earnest boy who believes that he owns the power to change the world, to change the people around him. But I didn't. I didn't tell him about the meaning of life. I didn't tell him that it could only be found in something eternal. If you try to find it outside of what you are being created for, you will always be lost. He told him he used to be a church choir boy. And I told myself, ah...there is hope. One day, he will know and one day, he would be found. For now, he is in my prayers.