On Earth as it is in Heaven
When I was a Christian, I had a hard time buying into the "streets of gold" view of heaven, even as a child. It didn't even sound pretty, ridiculous even. Later I tried to imaging eternal bliss and endless praise for God, but I just couldn't get there. It didn't sound heavenly to me. But I persisted. Later I tried to come to grips with "greater consciousness", but struggled with any semblance of self surviving into a meaningful afterlife. Whatever happens, the only thing that makes sense to me is that we return to the universe in our elemental parts, but the notion of a surviving soul still escapes me.
Be that as it may, I do understand man's struggle for meaning. We all live it every day, trying to make sense of the world and our place in it. We struggle for purpose beyond today, especially when things are less than ideal; "There must be a bigger plan." Maybe, maybe not.
But in our imaginings, can we construct a vision of heaven, even a fictitious and unverifiable one that is shared across faiths (and no faith at all) for a common purpose? Common values worthy of the highest standard? While I no longer count myself a Christian from a literal belief perspective, that is my heritage. That brings me to The Lord's Prayer:
If we adopted such a view, what would such a state look like? How would we deal with suffering, need, poverty, war, greed, selfishness, narcissism, power, natural resources, allocation of resources, commerce, government, etc. etc.? I would imagine our priorities would be very different, indeed.
Is it possible for people of different faiths and no faith at all to find common ground, agree on values that bring heaven here, now? The afterlife question will likely never be fully answerable unless you accept your particular brand of dogma. And that leads to division.
Peace my friends.
Be that as it may, I do understand man's struggle for meaning. We all live it every day, trying to make sense of the world and our place in it. We struggle for purpose beyond today, especially when things are less than ideal; "There must be a bigger plan." Maybe, maybe not.
But in our imaginings, can we construct a vision of heaven, even a fictitious and unverifiable one that is shared across faiths (and no faith at all) for a common purpose? Common values worthy of the highest standard? While I no longer count myself a Christian from a literal belief perspective, that is my heritage. That brings me to The Lord's Prayer:
If I can cling to nothing else in Christianity, it would be the notion of "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." If we can imagine a God with the most holy attributes - something that, for me, requires a very selected reading of any scripture - we can imagine what "His" will might be. And if He is indeed holy at all, I would expect Him to desire with all of His being for us to bring earth into a heavenly state.Our Father, which art in heaven,Hallowed be thy Name.Thy Kingdom come.Thy will be done in earth,As it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread.And forgive us our trespasses,As we forgive them that trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation,But deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom,The power, and the glory,For ever and ever.Amen.
If we adopted such a view, what would such a state look like? How would we deal with suffering, need, poverty, war, greed, selfishness, narcissism, power, natural resources, allocation of resources, commerce, government, etc. etc.? I would imagine our priorities would be very different, indeed.
Is it possible for people of different faiths and no faith at all to find common ground, agree on values that bring heaven here, now? The afterlife question will likely never be fully answerable unless you accept your particular brand of dogma. And that leads to division.
Peace my friends.
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