There was a boy of eight-years-old who touched heaven. It happened in the middle of the night, when he woke up to see an angel standing by him, and he himself seemed to be standing on nothing. He was just outside the walls of heaven: a condensed, glowing ether. He pressed his hand in the wall, which left a print on the inside of heaven. When he retracted his hand, some residue from heaven’s wall was left on it. When he woke up in the morning, his hand was shimmering with a gossamer sheen.

It was a faint shimmer. He could only see it at certain angles when he moved his hand, and later he found out he was the only person who could see it. Furthermore, his entire being felt different. It was as if his spirit were racing in his chest and a flowing clarity reigned in his mind. He wondered at the possibilities. They were limitless – he could heal people, resurrect them, command nature, move mountains – even create things out of nothing. The power of heaven was in his hand, right?

He tried to make it rain with his hand, but his hand began to throb in pain. It would not obey him. It would teach him.

The first thing it taught him was how to love. How to love his parents when they yelled at him, how to love his siblings when they cheated him, how to love his schoolmates when they made fun of him – it taught him the things that since the beginning of the world people knew they were supposed to do but refused to.

Once he loved someone, then he could do wonders. Once he genuinely loved the deformed cripple, he could make him whole. Once he genuinely loved the wicked and the sinful, he could put his hand on their cheek and tell them what great things they were meant to do. Once he felt heartbreak over a nation, a deep longing for its well-being and prosperity, an eager desire to embrace it in his arms and see it singing in joy and fulfillment, then he could look at his hand and see what the future held for that nation.

But then there was that time when a younger boy asked him how he got this power. “Well, there was one night that I touched heaven–” His hand began throbbing in pain. It told him that all he did was hold out his hand, and heaven came running toward him, having waited for so long so it could touch him. And the small print of a boy’s hand, whose tears were crying out to get a glimpse of heaven – that handprint can still be found carefully preserved on the heart of heaven.

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If your teen loves writing (or wants to explore fiction writing more to see if they do), Veritas Scholars Academy’s Fiction Writing Workshop class may be just the place for them!

Students will complete a manuscript of finished work and learn the power of story writing. They will also learn how to both write and evaluate stories from a biblical perspective. Student work may be submitted to various contests and publications with the ambition that the student will have the work published. This course is eligible for dual enrollment credit for junior and senior students. Homework will average about 3 - 4 hours per week.

Want to see how this class could fit into your academic routine? Tap here to get a free consultation!