Heaven on Earth

By Dr. Michael Obsatz – May 2024

Today, my wife and I went to Kelly and Kelly Garden Store — for its big opening of the season. I brought my camp chair and found a comfortable and shady place to sit near the offices. There were tall trees all around me — oaks, willows, pine trees. Every possible shade of green.

Nearby, a table was set up with books and note cards with gardening themes. My wife went to look for plants, and I sat in my chair– just noticing the beauty all around me. Probably more than a hundred people came and passed by me with wagons filled with plants. My hip replacements meant that I was not walking a lot, and so I just breathed in the spring air, enjoying the sunlight, and magic of this place. There were trails and a major plant area with thousands of plants. I thought this must be “heaven on earth.” It smelled wonderful.

Shortly after I sat down, a woman drove up and took a large object out of her SUV. I thought it might be a table for selling books. As she opened up the zipper, she pulled out a harp made of red plastic and metal. This was smaller than harps I had seen before, but she steadied it on a rock. She got back in her SUV and pulled it off to the side. She came back to sit about five feet from me.

Started to play a variety of songs and continued for two hours. I was serenaded by an angel. We chatted briefly and others passed by and stopped to listen. She had Irish tunes and church hymns. One of the hymns was “In The Garden.” “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses……and He walks with me, and He talks with me and tells me I am His own.” Clearly not an accident.

I was living in the moment, in heaven on earth, with an angel playing a harp right next to me. And I was reminded by the song she played, “In the Garden” how much I am loved, and that I am not alone. Perfect. Magical. Amazing. Totally unexpected — just living in gratitude in the moment.

I wish everyone in the world could experience such moments of peace, tranquility, and comfort. I thanked her when I left. I told her, “You made my day.” She stopped playing, and looked at me, and said, “You made my day, too.”

It was Divine, a reminder of Oneness with all of creation. Angels show up all the time.