As I write this, not that long ago a close friend of mine passed away. As part of everything that happens when a loved one or close friend passes, there is much conversation as “the arrangements” are made. In this case the friend was a man of the cloth, having served as a minister for the largest majority of his life – 40+ years of the 84 he had on this Earth. Having been raised in the Judeo-Christian faith, I believe in an afterlife but not sure how I feel about heaven and hell.
As a child, heaven was always presented to me as a place where all the angels do nothing but play their harps and sing praises to God… for all eternity. Every angel gets issued the same white robes, identical harp, glowing halo and… well, you get the idea.
As a television fan of the show “Supernatural,” I’ve seen heaven portrayed several different ways from a huge building with white cubical rooms where each angel is assigned when they get there, and where every person is as they were when they died but wearing a bright white suit, to a countryside that is ideal for the person who arrived, but then also as a beachfront where the weather is always sunny and the temperature always perfect.
As I’ve aged, I’ve developed some different ideas of what heaven might be. I’ve heard heaven described as, “That place you go when you die where every loving pet you had in your life comes running to meet you.” I’ve heard many times that my family will all be reunited in Heaven and I’ll get to see my mom, dad and other kin again.
For my friend who recently passed, I think the closest to heaven we can imagine is the perfect mountain meadow with a babbling stream running through it. The temperatures are always perfect and there are more trout (or bass) than he can catch in that stream. When he’s not fishing he’s cooking the fish over a campfire, or sitting around it with his preferred iced glass of Blackberry Brandy, perhaps with his favorite cigar or his briar pipe available in his other hand. Sometimes his sister or parents are there with him, but I imagine there are plenty of times heaven just lets him enjoy the peace and solitude of that peace of the beauty of nature.
So, I wonder again, what is heaven? It seems to me that only a truly egotistical god would want millions of souls sitting around playing harps and singing his praises for all eternity. I also think that we can’t just have one heaven for all eternity because even our human souls are imperfect and we’d soon find ourselves bored with a single place or setting.
I think heaven would be a mix of every type of pleasant landscape that you can imagine, unmarred by man’s hand. There’s no need for shelter from the weather, the cold of night, or the heat of the sun. Surely, in heaven, the temperature is perfect every day and such human frailties as sunburn or hypothermia don’t exist. Hunger is just as likely non-existent but sometimes eating can be so pleasurable that there must still be meals available even if it means cooking that trout over a campfire or grilling burgers and dogs over the same. Heaven is the place where we can visit all we want with those people we love and whose company we enjoy, but we can just as easily be alone if all we seek is peace and quiet. It’s a place where we can play with all of our favorite pets and have conversations with all of the “great” people history taught us about – provided they weren’t evil and didn’t end up in hell.
And yes, I believe that only truly evil people end up in hell. Humanity is imperfect but I believe that as long as a person tries to live a good life; a moral, ethical and kind life, they are rewarded with heaven. What kind of god would say, “Well, you gave it a good shot but you didn’t quite hit the mark, so, sorry… eternal damnation and suffering for you.”?
Of course, ALL of this is simply my mind wandering about the possibilities of heaven on a random Tuesday afternoon, hoping that when I get there (yeah, I know… IF I get there), I can sit and enjoy conversations with my father in his favorite setting as well as fly-fish next to the perfect mountain stream with my recently lost friend. It’s where I can learn from Socrates and Einstein and, if I’m feeling arrogant, debate with Aristotle. It’s where I can go hunting and camping with my Uncle Don and welcome my children to join us when they show up. Given that there’s likely no need to measure time in heaven (because how do you mark the passing of eternity?), it may seem like only moments that I’ve been there when others show up.
Maybe “heaven” simply means that when I pass, I’ve lived a good enough life that those who love me wish me a peaceful afterlife full of rest and relaxation. Maybe “going to heaven” means that I’ve left my loved ones in a better quality of life when I pass. Maybe heaven is simply a state of existence wherein none of the frailties of our physical life matter anymore: no more hunger, pain, fatigue, sadness, etc. Maybe heaven is simply being free of all of the concerns of this worldly existence?
What do you think heaven will be like? Feel free to comment.
