Traffic "Heaven Is In Your Mind" (1967)
Heaven Is In Your Mind
When I was seven years of age my family moved to a duplex in the Penn Hills area of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Practically in our backyard was a tiny Free Methodist Church which became the church we not only began to attend on Sundays, but it became the focal point of my social life. The pastor gave me my very first personal copy of a Bible which I still have in my possession. This began my lifetime spiritual journey.
My father was deeply interested in the Bible and all things related to Jesus and seemed very pleased about the interest which I took in the church. We had never been involved in any church up to that time although my father frequently read from and quoted passages from the Bible. In our first Christmas at that house--this would have been the Christmas of 1958--my father gave me a two volume book set concerning Bible commentary and history and an art book with paintings depicting scenes from the Bible. I spent many hours with these books and the Bible given to me by the church pastor.
These studies stayed with me throughout my life, having a great influence on my thinking and my actions. We moved from Pennsylvania the following year and relocated first in San Diego, California; then Crown Point, Indiana; and finally Maryville, Tennessee. Often our family attended church, but sometimes there would be lapses. Through the years matters concerning God, the Bible, and Heaven were always in my mind.
Even in my wilder days of college and some years after I was never far from my spiritual side. I always maintained some limits. I still dreamed of some future place where absolute goodness reigned. I suppose once Heaven is in your mind it's difficult to get it out.
Were you involved in any sort of religious activity as a child? Did spiritual matters ever enter your mind when you were young? How has your outlook towards spirituality changed since becoming an adult?
