How do I keep my “eye sound”? I teach fifth grade at a Catholic school, and I try to impress upon my students what was instilled in me by teachers at St. Edward School in Waterloo, Iowa: my relationship with God is the most important thing, and I should spend my life doing everything I can to know God.

I depend upon the traditions of our faith such as sacraments, saints, and the Rosary, to keep my eye sound. I still recognize, however, the limits of my human vision. Thomas Aquinas gives me more of a humble perspective and awe when I think of how a revelation from God caused him to say, “All that I have written appears to be as so much straw after the things that have been revealed to me.” We can’t possibly imagine God’s greatness, so I feel especially grateful that our church strives to prepare us for what lies beyond by teaching us how we might live divine lives, even on Earth.

To “be filled with light,” I believe, is to experience true peace. I think I have known that feeling a few times, and I know it had absolutely nothing to do with me. It was pure grace from God. It is different from the happiness I feel when I accomplish something or even the joy I have when my child succeeds. It is an overwhelming sense that I am in God’s hands. It comes, for example, at times when God answers a prayer in a way that I could not possibly have imagined. I suppose it is a taste of what we will feel in heaven.