Heaven and hell are simply states of mind/awareness - two words to describe a plethora of emotions and perceptions summed up (or reduced)to single word expressions. If you're having a bad time of it, then you could be described as being in hell. On the other hand, if you are having a good time...

That's why many people consider themselves in heaven right here on earth. Lets face it, we have absolutely everything we need. Really, what more could we want. Personally, I couldn't imagine any one coming up with any thing better than good old planet earth - from which all life springs. Whoever did come up with it, good on 'em. When you open your eyes its just amazing. It really is... quite beautiful.

So come on everyone, lets not spoil it. Its ALL right here to be looked after and enjoyed by, yes, you guessed it.... ALL.

.. another thing to remember, absolutely NO THING can fall out of the UNIVERSE. EVERY THING gets recycled. There really isn't a single thing to worry about, ever.

Snout - good music reference - Talking Heads' 'Heaven'. As I recall it, the chorus goes "heaven, heaven is a place, a place where nothing, nothing ever happens". Exactly my fear. (fear of music, right?).

I agree with you, too johnj - more Talking Heads, less talking crap would be good.

Kevin - sorry, couldn't find the pound sign on the keyboard - what are you taking to be that happy & optimistic at 5AM?

jamo - friend, you are making this too hard, harder I'm sure than God intended. Had He presented the Bible in powerpoint format, I'm sure one of the slides would have been the KISS principle - you know, keep it simple, stupid. Lifelong penitence went out in the middle ages along with self-flagellation and hair shirts. This is the noughties - quick, simple and flexible is the go - fast takeaway repentance is available. Blessed be the sinner who repents - they'll be in the queue ahead of lifelong holy adherents with blameless lives. Unfair, I know, but this is like Liberal Party policy - not meant to be fair, just advantageous to the right people.

Chris Shaw: Q.- ' love you. I love you. I love you.- but can you handle it?' A.- no.

PK said "Lifelong penitence went out with the dark ages"......

*Boaz puts on his 'counselling' hat* ... :)

Matey.. you seem to have some very serious scar tissue in that brain of yours, possibly a result of being traumatized by a Catholic education during your youth ? I'd suggest a hyper fundamentalist Independant Baptist youth except that you used the word 'Penitence' which is more Catholic.

The things which the Gospel calls us to 'repent from' are the things which in our hearts we ALL know are wrong wrong wrong... ( I hope)
Like...

Dishonoring our parents
Lust.. adultery, immorality
Theft.. deceit, lying.
Murder.

I fail to see why anyone has a problem with being urged to RUNNNNN from these things and embrace He who will provide motivation and strength to continue WANTing to avoid these things.

As soon as you mention 'Penitence' I kind of get it.... that immediately smacks of "Something you HAVE TO DO to satisfy some edict of 'The Church' due to some specific sin you have committed."

But that idea is quite foreign to the Bible, the Gospel, and Jesus.

Even in the old testament, where 'ritual' was a big part of the religious life of Israel, even then.. God, through his prophets would say things like:

Micah 6:7-8

7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? (a reference to Canaanite pagan child sacrifice)

8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.

The only possible motive I can think of as to why any tradition of the 'Church' would stray from this SIMPLE concept is 'power'... as many of you often accuse (and rightly so)

But when in doubt... refer the user manual :)

Kipp, funnyyyy! In heaven we should be able to enjoy any foods we love- sugar, fat, name it! What’s the worst that could happen- we’re already dead, lol.

RObert, I hope so too- and I hope we can’t hear the screams coming from hell either.

K£vin, nice view! Live life to the fullest! This is from the lyrics by “Armor for Sleep”
THE TRUTH ABOUT HEAVEN
~Don't believe that it's better when you leave everything behind
Don't believe that the weather is perfect the day that you die~

But seriously, I think that heaven is just invented by people because they find themselves so important that they can’t possibly imagine that they will be gone one day and that life will just go on without them. So they invented a way to save their souls adn live on forever.

Another reason might be that it just feels safe to know that there will be something better, something perfect one day, and that there is a reward for people who have been through life’s sometimes rough experiences.

The author says “…those who know too much about heaven and those who are uncomfortable with it….”
I don’t really understand that because there’s NOBODY who knows too much about heaven. Perhaps they ‘think’ they do. Until astrophysicians come up with some evidence of the existence of heaven, nobody knows anything about it and can only guess. Whatever the bible says is either fantasy or hear-say.

Celivia,

I note from your post you fail to realise the spiritual state of the eternal. Heaven is not spatial so cannot be evaluated by physics, though we use spatial images to define its nature. Heaven is the nature of the perfect and highest ideal. The idealism of perfect and pure love is eternal and unchanging. This love is not self gratification but the action demonstrated by self giving. As we live in focus of this it helps us realise what is going to last forever and what is impure and to be discarded. We do not enter heaven with impure thoughts and behaviour, but as Christans we believe our desire is that purity be our focus and repentance for our impurity be practised. Those that have this hope purify themselves, and the nature of that pure life lives forever.

"The author says “…those who know too much about heaven and those who are uncomfortable with it….” I don’t really understand that because there’s NOBODY who knows too much about heaven. Perhaps they ‘think’ they do. Until astrophysicians come up with some evidence of the existence of heaven, nobody knows anything about it and can only guess. Whatever the bible says is either fantasy or hear-say."
Posted by Celivia,