Thinking Out Loud

A few days ago, Don and I were talking with ML, a mentally challenged man from our church.  His mother had just died.  "I know I'm going to see her again.  She's in Heaven, and some day I will be there and I'll get to see her, too."  And I smiled, grateful that he had that peace, and thinking about what Heaven will be like for him.  He'll be whole.

But then I got to wondering what that really means.  The Bible says there will be no sickness in Heaven.  But what is the definition of sickness?  ML's physical body isn't sick.  He is mentally slower than most of us.  So what, exactly is the "perfect" IQ?  How arrogant am I to think that "perfect" means he thinks like me?  I'm by no means a genius, so that makes me mentally slow as well.  What's the standard of perfection?

The fact is, ML is perfect.  He is exactly who God created him to be.  God loves him as he is, because God does not make mistakes.  I think also of my school kids.  They are perfect.  They don't recognize that they are slower than their classmates.  They can think.  They can do.  They can reason.  They just do those things their way instead of everyone else's.  But most importantly, they can love and be loved.  In truth, their only disability is that the rest of us don't understand or appreciate them as we should.  If anything about them will be different in Heaven, maybe it will be that our perception of them will be clearer, and we will see them as God does - perfect, and precious in His sight.