Maybe I’m not supposed to say that. But it does.
Anytime I can’t wrap my mind around something, I have this reaction.
Take space. Space boggles my mind. The fact that you could get in a rocket ship with never-ending fuel and literally fly for-ever? You wouldn’t run into some sort of wall? That’s crazy. And that’s just space. A place people have actually explored.
When it comes to boggling the mind, heaven is like space on steroids.
Last Friday, my good friend Wendy Miller asked a very Wendy-like question. I say Wendy-like, because if you know this woman, you know the waters run deep. And pretty much everything that comes out of her mouth is either encouraging or thought-provoking or hilarious.
So anyway. Her thought-provoking question on Friday was: Righteous anger or no anger?
Which led to: Will there be anger in heaven?
Which led to: No, there won’t. Because God’s righteous anger results from sin and there won’t be sin in heaven.
Which led to my mind being boggled.
Here are just a few things about heaven that strain my brain:
- Heaven is eternal. Everybody knows the song, Amazing Grace, right? In it, there’s a verse that goes: When we’ve been there, ten thousand year. Bright shining as the sun. We’ve no less days, to sing God’s praise, than when we first begun. Which is amazing, don’t get me wrong. But also crazy.
- What will we do in heaven? I know we’ll worship God. But is this all we’ll do?
- There won’t be mourning in heaven. But how is this possible when we realize certain people aren’t there? Won’t we realize where they are? And won’t that make us mourn?
- What will our relationships be like in heaven? There’s a verse in one of the gospels where Jesus says we won’t be married in heaven. We’ll be like the angels. So what will my relationship with my husband be like when I get to heaven?
*Photo by mediatunes
Okay, so we were totally twin sisters separated at birth (although you gotta wonder about our parents giving us the same name ;). Heaven and space have *always* weirded me out too. One of the questions I've always struggled with us as well is "what will we do?" Sitting around in white robes, playing harps, sounds, frankly, boring. But I think God has much more than that in store for us. He created Adam and Eve and gave them work to do in the Garden of Eden. If people had a purpose even in Eden, I'm sure we'll have one in heaven as well. Realizing that has lessened the "weird" factor for me.
Journeytoepiphany – your comment gave me goosebumps. What a beautiful dream.
My father suddenly passed away last year, and it really changed my perspective of dying and heaven. I'm not afraid of the unknown, like I had been, because I know my Daddy is waiting for me. I know it sounds childish, but its true.
I have been in a spiritual desert for a long time. I'm sure that its the equivalent of the children of Israel wandering for forty years. There was a time when I regularly experienced the presence of God, a hunger for Him and His Word and the miraculous. But for the past few years, my walk has been very dry, with little or no personal "feeling" regarding my walk with God. However, the day after my father passed away, I had a special dream. I don't often have special dreams, in fact I can think of two previous to this one. In the dream, we came home (to my mother's house) and my father was sitting on the couch…and he was smiling…Smiling a smile so radiant and so full of love and joy I couldn't believe it. "I thought you were dead." I said to him in my dream…and he just sat there glowing and smiling. It was such a comfort.
My husband bought a copy of Heaven is for Real–I probably would not have, because I tend to steer away from after-death (or near-death) experience memoirs. I haven't read it, but I will now that it's in our house.
I also love C.S. Lewis's depiction of heaven in The Last Battle.
I'm one who just dreams of the beautiful things in life and call that heaven. In Sunday School when I was younger they asked us to think of all the happy moments and that was heaven. I've done that to this day.
I picture flowers, calming music, friends and family. People in general since no fear, anxiety, or pressure on being liked. Overall just a place to retreat, relax, and rejoice.
I can second Jessica's comment about Heaven by Randy Alcorn. We used it for a small group study about 5 years ago and it definitely impacted my understanding of Heaven — and from a scriptural standpoint. Part 2 of the book is dedicated to Q&A about Heaven with chapter titles like "What Will Our Lives Be Like?", "What About Animals?", and "What Will We Do In Heaven?" A good read for anyone interested in the subject. 🙂
When I want to boggle my brain I think about how there's no time in heaven. None of this waiting around for for people we love to arrive. From a heavenly standpoint . . . we're already there!
I love C.S. Lewis' take on heaven in the final book of the Narnia series. Very comforting.
Yeah, you are going deep Katie! But deep is good. I've been thinking about Heaven more too (I think it comes with getting older).
My kids are also fascinated with heaven. My daughter keeps asking me if we're going to be a family in heaven. I even started to write a post about it….. And my son recently read Heaven Is For Real, and it really helped him get a picture of what heaven might be like. I know so many Christians have mixed feelings about that book. I've thought about doing a post about it — maybe I will. My response to friends and critics is — it's just a book, get over it and stop being so literal — but I think there is more to talk about here. You have me thinking, which is always dangerous!
I believe in reincarnation, as well as an afterlife where we can rest before deciding to return to a new life. I think that part of God's plan for us is that we have to learn, strive for the good things He has placed for us. We might not learn all we have to learn in this life, however.
I am more convinced than ever that you are I are soul mates. 🙂 You might as well have read my mind because we share all the same questions and "worries" about heaven. The idea of eternal makes me freak out– I just can't wrap my brain around it. And I want to be married in heaven, so I wonder what it will be like. 🙂
No matter what, I'm looking forward to it, too!
I think Heaven is going to be awesome!!! I totally take the views that Dekker and Alcorn throw out in their fiction. LOL
That said, did you ever notice how we're built for eternity? Every moment for us is present. Past is past and future is future and we're only capable of living each moment in the moment. I think that's what heaven will be like and in that way, it won't be much different than now. I mean, look how shocking death is? Or how surprising it is when we realize we've aged or something has changed?
Hahaa, does any of this make sense? I think I'm boggling myself now. *grin*
I call that the "zoom out." Maybe you're driving and you notice the pretty clouds, and soon you're thinking of yourself as a tiny blip on a blue and green planet. And all our questions on heaven seem so small! Not unimportant, but small.
When I was a kid, I wasn't sure I wanted to go to heaven because I thought it would forever be like one loooooooong church service. And I thought church was boring.
When it gets right down to it, it's faith. I have to have faith that heaven is as wonderful as God says it is, and that I will like it. 🙂
Great topic, Katie! What I love about heaven is that it defines the story arc of our lives, our world, and all creation. I don't have answers about will we grieve loved ones who are not with us, but I know that when Jesus came, God's story became more intense. We have the opportunity to live in the kingdom of God right now and yearn for all of creation to be redeemed. That's the end of the story we are living now chapter by chapter. When I find myself lingering over questions about what heaven will be like, I remind myself that we will be changed in the twinkling of an eye. We won't be our mortal selves with limited imagination. Being changed from mortal to immortal is not just about living forever, but being made out of different stuff than we are now. Perhaps then we will be able to comprehend the completeness that is heaven.
I don't know if I'm qualified to comment on heaven, but thist post certainly made me think. I'm still thinking!
By the way, I have the same reaction when I'm baffled by something. The title of this post made me chuckle (in the best way possible). Thanks!
-Miss GOP
http://www.thewritingapprentice.com
I read a book a few years ago called "My Dream of Heaven." I'm not sure how biblically correct it is, but I liked the way she described how Heaven could possibly be… how we'd know our loved ones and how everyone has a job based on their unique gifts.
I try not to think about it too much because it boggles my mind too. I prefer to be surprised.
I can't wait to meet Jesus though, and our baby girl Josie who died before birth. I'm also looking forward to seeing my brother again. And meeting Kirk Cameron ;).
I read a book by Randy Alcorn about heaven. It was pretty cool. When I think about heaven, I get jealous because I want my one-on-one time with Jesus and I have no clue how He's going to do that. That bothers me the most. LOL
But since there won't be jealousy in heaven, I'll be good. 🙂
I agree. It's impossible for us to imagine anything so awesome. As a child, I pictured heaven with angels floating on clouds with harps. In other words, pretty boring.
After reading books like C.S. Lewis' "The Last Battle," I picture heaven more like earth, only without all the bad stuff. I think I'll still be writing up there. Or some other fulfilling work. But even if I'm wrong, I know I'll be doing something even better than writing. (Which is difficult to imagine.)
Have you read "Ninety Minutes in Heaven" and "Heaven is for Real"? Both of those books made me YEARN for heaven like I never have before. I'm honestly ready… I just want to take a BUNCH of people with me when I go.
So I guess I'll wait a while. 🙂
See, Lisa, this is one of the things that weirds me out about heaven. That everything will be perfect. Maybe the writer in me has been so trained to think conflict=interest, that I wonder, much like Laura did as a child….will heaven be boring? And then I feel like a huge heathen for even wondering that and think, of course heaven will not be boring, because God is not boring. Which leads me back to square one: awe. Because heaven is totally incomprehensible.
Whoa. You really are rolling in the deep today. 😀 (And funny, you forgot to say Wendy is also ultra-funny.) I'll pay you later. 😀
Katie, What a HUGe blessing you are in my life! Thanks for that.
And heaven, of course, I have answers to all your questions but they are lost in the deep dark caverns of my mind. 😀
I'm excited for it and I don't even know the half of it…of what's waiting.
~ Wendy
We don't have enough "raw data" to really come to a lot of conclusions on the details of heaven. We just get the general picture, and I get the idea is that it's a place but more of a state of being, which is harder to explain than an environment. What defines it is our proximity to God, not a relation to a certain point in space-time (even though, eventually, heaven with be on earth…though I don't know how literal we are supposed to take that).
So I think that heaven escapes understanding because God escapes our understanding.
It's hard to think about. As a girl I thought it would be boring – sitting around strumming harps or worse – singing all day. But I think being in the center of God's love and truly feeling it is something we can't comprehend.
Heaven is mind boggling, but it will be Utopia–the perfect home for our eternal souls. My biggest struggle is wondering how I'll handle knowing my unsaved loved ones aren't there with me. But knowing I'll be reunited with loved ones who have already passed on thrills me. And imagine–we'll get to know people like Noah, David, Solomon. Will we be able to write books in heaven? The stories will lack conflict because everything will be perfect.
I think that infinity, in any form, is essentially impossible for us to comprehend, at our current level of awareness.
That's why it's called faith.
Great questions, Katie, thanks for making us think!