What Heaven might be like...

Must of us wonder where we are going to go when we die - it's a logical thought.

After all, it isn't easy for most of us to accept the finality of death. Regardless of your views, atheist, Christian, agnostic - we all will be forced to face an ending to this life.

So, we conjecture on what it will be like. Will we simply be nothing? Reincarnated? Hell? Purgatory? Heaven? Let's stop at Heaven... what is probably the most enjoyable of the alternatives.

What's Heaven like? Sure, you could read the Bible and get an idea. But even the Bible is vague about the specific construction of Heaven - of its rules and boundaries, climate, individual life, etc.

Assuming that Heaven exists and that we can go there with more good than bad behavior and the appropriate beliefs, Heaven is supposed to be a place of ultimate happiness and contentment. I like football, an occasional game of chess, and intimate moments with my girlfriend (eep, girlfriend, not wife... I'm not off to a good start I guess). Heh, unless you happen to enjoy those three things as well (PRAY I don't here about the 3rd), chances are our concepts of happiness and contentment are quite different. The trick then, it would seem, would be to make a place vast enough to accommodate ALL beings and NO beings at the same time. I mean, as much as I love the first three things I mentioned, I like my alone time too.

Not too hard to imagine... God is the creator after all. Can't He allow us to interact and intertwine with whoever and whenever we wish? Similarly, if we have a particular affinity for certain activities, they should be available nearly at will as well.

Sounds pretty good so far, right?

Now toss God and factual morality into it. Uh-oh.

I can say factual morality in this case. Why? If God is the creator, He makes the rules about EVERYTHING. If He says it is bad to pick your nose, you better check to see if it's OK for your friend to pick it, because you’re up a creek otherwise.

As to God Himself - a significant aspect to Heaven is a communion with God. We will have access to all the wisdom He wishes to bestow, the love he wishes to provide, and all the other things we could want or need. At all times, we will be aware of His presence. If God is a benevolent Being that we are always in contact with and aware of, then what role does He play in our wants and desires while in Heaven? Sure, Earth can be seen as a microcosm of Heaven to the extent that we can be in contact with Him and aware of Him, but we are limited in our intellectual and physical capacities to fully realize what Heaven could entail.

Theoretically, we would all want what God wants for us and Knows is best for our souls. Our love, faith, and trust in Him would allow us to focus on all the things He knows is best. The problem? We have two cases of very compelling evidence that isn’t that simple - our current lives and Satan.

As to our lives? Short of Jesus and Mother Theresa, how many people do you know that are almost completely in tune with what most people understand as to what God probably think is right? Most of us "sin" on a fairly regular basis. Now, thankfully, we can be forgiven. That isn't the point. The point is that we most likely KNOW that what we are doing is wrong in God's eyes and, yet, we still engage in that activity. What makes us think that we will be any different in Heaven? You can make a strong case that we will be different because we will KNOW God actually and as fully as He allows us and that we won't be limited by our physical wants and desires. Still, that brings us to the second case...

Satan. He had it great. He was an angel, high up and God's favored. And yet, he strayed. God wasn't "right" for him. Satan rebelled, took others with him and decided God didn't have it quite right. He, apparently, had everything God promises us, and yet he still wanted more. Satan wanted to BE God, according to many documents. What makes us think we won't be any different?

Well, I have an answer, though hardly provable by any of us living. The angels knew God and he knew them. But God was never an angel. He WAS a human. God knows us because he has experienced what it is like to be us. So, when we get to Heaven, God will have a special affinity towards us that he didn't have with the angels (Why he didn't ever try this with them? Hard to say.) That bond should allow us to remain close to Him in ways that maybe some of the angels couldn't.

So, we have a place where all we want and desire, that is good for our souls, is given to us. Given that God has given us the freedom to choose, we must have the option of choosing what is bad for us should we want it. Does He give it? Can we be kicked out of Heaven too? Is our bond with God so strong that we won't want anything He deems bad for us?

I think that's what we have to hope for, to have faith in. If we don't, then Heaven becomes a chaotic version of our lives on this planet. We rebel when we want to, embrace when we want to, and never fully appreciate what God means in our lives. Nope, in order for Heaven to work in the way the Bible and we traditionally accept it, as a kingdom of happiness and peace, we will embrace only the best of others and ourselves. This is God's message for us on this planet as well, and yet I wonder - How much easier will it be to do up there than it is down here?