If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen the video where I share my special editions of the whimsical classic “Alice in Wonderland.” The idea that a world with magical characters could be at my finger tips through a rabbit hole brings the splendor of an encountered imagination.  I certainly felt a warm kinship with Alice when she said “When I get home I shall write a book about this place.”

Thankfully, that book was gifted through the wonderful creativity of Lewis Carroll.

Recently, I came across this beautiful life-size statue of Alice Through the Looking Glass constructed by Jeanne Argent, and displayed on the Guildford Castle grounds located in Surry, UK.  The figure was sculpted as a memorial to Carroll who lived nearby in the Chestnuts until he died in 1898.

The statue beautifully captures Alice leaving one world and entering another.  She is feeling her way through and moving her arms upward as she does.  With her face pushed through the glass and foot firmly planted, Alice is moments away from standing in a whole new realm.   There is only excitement in her heart knowing all that she will see and hear.

Heaven Seen through Alice’s Looking Glass

Is it not true that God as the author of creativity uses our imagination as a gateway to picture what heaven will be like?  According to St. John, the centerpiece of heaven is God’s throne, and is surrounded with twelve city walls containing the engraved names of the twelve apostles (Rev.4:3).

Indeed, it is a real place.

When envisioning heaven, the song “I Can Only Imagine” is so fitting:

I can only imagine
What my eyes would see?
What will my heart feel?
Will I dance for You Jesus
Or in awe of You be still?
Will I stand in Your presence
Or to my knees, will I fall?
Will I sing hallelujah?
Will I be able to speak at all?
I can only imagine
 – Song by Mercy Me

Perhaps the way Alice presses her way through the looking glass shines faintly on what our own entrance into heaven will be like. We might take a page from her book when looking back at the world once more and say “Oh, dear. I do wish I hadn’t cried so much.”

If only we could know now what awaits us there.

There in heaven

I can only imagine.

See Instagram video here https://www.instagram.com/p/CrGtoiKt6Cm/