137 Heaven

Probably one of the reasons why not many people take the idea of Heaven as their future Home and destination for the bulk of eternity very seriously is that not an awful lot of information is available abut it, currently.
After John the Revelator's astounding two final chapters in the Bible that give us some daring information about the eternal Home of those pilgrims and strangers on earth that the epistle to the Hebrews tells us every true believer should be, so daring in fact that most of those same believers would not dare to take it literally, almost two millennia of silence on the subject have left most Christians keeping their feet on the ground and their minds on earthly matters, rather than looking for that Better Place to come.

There were a few lone voices throughout time, some describing supernatual experiences they've had, and artists, inspired by the thought of the unfathomable beauty to come, have tried to visualize what expects the believer in the afterlife.
During the 1980s, the founder of the Family International, David Berg, recruited some of the artists within his movement to try to put on paper his ideas of the world to come, which were generally more daring than the contemporary versions of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Adventists and the likes, but still - though far from the actual perfection that expects us, I'm sure - the more accurate illustrations of Heaven that I personally subscribe to.

I cannot imagine the prudish Heaven that so many conservative Christians seem to settle for in their minds, that make our unbelieving friends and acquaintances joke, perhaps not altogether unjustifiably, that "Heaven's okay, but for meeting old friends, there's no place like hell," and similar jokes we've probably all heard...

No wonder so many Christians occupy themselves with overwhelmingly earthly matters, and when aproached about the idea of Heaven, often react a bit scared, as if they had no intention of going there any time soon. After all, down here is where all the action and fun is... isn't it?

Personally, I don't think so. Personally, most of what people consider fun down here, compared to the Real Thing, is probably comparable to the husks that the Prodigal Son stuffed himself with when herding swine for a living, compared with the abundance of food he used to enjoy at his father's table...

I actually have a hard time understanding why most of my fellow-believers seem to be so gaga about this world, and don't seem to want to waste a second thought on Heaven.
Heaven seems to be okay for old people, or for those who know they're soon going to die, but it hardly seems to be the Goal that most of my brethren have set for their journey, unless they're keeping it a big secret.

That's why I'd like to make Heaven a little more palatable and real by whatever humble means available to me for the time being, most of which are restricted to words, for now, since I'm not a gifted artist, nor a wealthy film-producer, rendering my own personal version of "Heaven Can Wait" or "Made In Heaven" or similar previous attempts to give us a glimpse of the bright side of the afterlife.

Of course, there's that other place, too, but others have taken it upon themselves to scare us into Heaven by scaring the hell out of us with their tales of Hell, so, I'd rather keep on the sunny side of things for now. After all, it seems there is more preaching about Hell than Heaven.
If we can't make Heaven sound desirable enough for people to want to go there, I guess all we've got left is the attempt to scare them with stories about the other place that will make them not want to go there.

But I'd like to create a vision of Heaven that varies a little from the vague, conservative and prudish version that seems to fail so utterly to incite anyone's interest and desire to ever want to go there. Let's face it, our generation, and probably even more so the one after us, is probably the biggest bunch of hedonists and fun-junkies to ever have walked this globe, and I can only assume that the Devil is pulling out all his big guns and best "Pleasure Island" features he can in order to make God look like the loser - at least in the minds of those who don't know any better and have never had a taste of Heaven, nor a glimpse of what Heaven is really like.

For starters, let's begin with a statement that most people will probably find shocking. If there's one attribute that Heaven has not been described as to the degree that in my opinion it should have, apart from all the usual ones, such as "wonderful," beautiful," etc, it would be sexy. Not in any nasty, dirty, sinful or pornographic way, much less associated to any sort of the manifold perversions that have attached themselves to the entire theme of sex these days, but nonetheless, undescribably, sincerely, purely and authentically sexy.

If this begins to bust your former concepts of Heaven, then I'm succeeding, although I admit, it must probably be hard for you to fight the fear that I'm trying to lead you up some wicked, sinful path here, because we've all been drilled to the point of insanity that sex and sin are practically one and the same thing, which I have dared to challenge formerly, as did the aforementioned David Berg...

If God's first commandment ever uttered to man was not "Thou shalt be good," or "Pray and be holy," but "Be fruitful and multiply," in other words, "make love," and there was nothing whatsoever wrong with nudity until the serpent made its debut in paradise to introduce his advertisement for his idea of "fun," then we must assume that God is not prudish, but indeed, - and I'm perfectly aware of how many people will hate me for saying this - a sexy God.
And His Habitat will look accordingly, quite different from the usual Jehovah's Witnesses' portrayals of people roaming Heaven clad in 20th century business apparel.

I'm not saying that all people ever do in Heaven is have sex, although I would boldly defend the statement - contrary to some - that what they won't do is never have any, but to say the least, interaction between the sexes in Heaven is infinitely more pleasant than it is currently down here, with all the usual misunderstandings and misconceptions about each other gone for good.
Jesus said that nothing is hid that shall not be revealed, and I believe there is total openness and honesty in Heaven with no need to cover up and nothing to hide. Probably also retrospectively, and in regard to incidents of the past. It's my personal conviction that our current history from Eden to Armageddon will serve as invaluable source of education for future citizens of God's Kingdom, and not only will we be able to explore Napoleon and Mussolini's moments of glory or lack thereof, but perhaps we might even gain a little more insight into some of the more intricate, perhaps even delicate bits of not-so-well-know history, according to each one's personal scope of interest.
Some, for instance, might get a real kick and inspiration out of re-living the scene of Janet Soskice's conversion under the shower as a philosophy student in the 70s in 3D, with the esteemed philosopher's consent, naturally...
Or to view on Heaven-TV what it was like for the first, most perfect (and not ape-like at all) couple in Eden, before Satan convinced them that it certainly would be more appropriate to wear clothes...


But "sexy" isn't the only unusual attribute I'd give Heaven, that would make the future citizens of Hell turn red with envy - especially since the boss in that place doesn't seem to be fond of God's original commandment, at all, and many who are looking forward to a party in hell will probably experience the disappointment of their (after-)lives.

"Adventurous" is another one that probably wouldn't fit many people's current concept of God's Capital. But that's probably because God Himself is only reduced to the few fractions of imagination and knowledge they have about Him based on the meager interest they have shown Him throughout their busy lives.

Maybe some just want to be surprised, as I'm sure they will.

Anything we enjoy on earth is merely a shadow and a poor counterfeit version of the Real Thing waiting for believers There.

"Treckies" will probably finally be able to experience the Real Thing and explore the galaxies that the Creator certainly did not only create to leave us all puzzled...
After all, the first description of a U.F.O. or "space ship" in history is found in the Old Testament's book of Ezekiel...

And, of course, man's oldest dream, that he has finally learned to realize during the last century, of flying, is finally enjoyed without any technical and costly gimmicks nor any risks involved. After all, we have this much solid information from John: "There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain" (Rev.21:4), which already sounds like all the reasons in the world I need for wanting to go there, since I was never the masochistic, melancholic nor death-loving type.

Another tidbit about our Future Home from St. John is the promise that we'll be like Jesus - in other words, perfect, and that will be quite a welcome change, indeed, from the "perfection" we've enjoyed so far...

But if God is only twice as merciful as some of the fire and brimstone preachers portray Him - perhaps for fear that there won't be room enough for them in Heaven if they'd let too many people in - we might even meet some old sinners like ourselves who made it there by His grace, and in spite of their earthly imperfections, and among them many of the famous people whose work we appreciated during our life-time, not to mention all the really greats that we never even heard of that will blow our minds.
And there won't just be tons of cool - or rather, hot people - but also angels and other heavenly beings that the Bible describes here and there...

Those who love sports will probably be able to enjoy a large new variety of acrobatics possible with their new immortal bodies...

The philosophically inclined will be able to benefit from a wealth of resources unfathomable by our earthly standards...

Just a few ideas to whet your appetite and make you reconsider if you thought that Heaven was going to be boring. As one of the prettiest women alive once said, "Only idiots get bored," and I'm just about 100% certain that there won't be anymore of those in that wonderful Tomorrow...