Heaven is a Place on Earth

Flammarion Engraving

What is Heaven? 

Before I was conceived, I existed only as a cell in my mother's ovary, and then as an egg.  These were formed when my mother was herself a fetus in her own mother's womb. She began as a ball of dividing cells and one cell was assigned to be a possible 'me'.  A physical part of me was also being 'born' at the same time that she was. 

When did I come into existence?  

When I die do I return to this pre-birth state?  A state of nothingness; no memory?  Is this the circle of life: returning to whence I came? And does it matter? 

There are a number of challenges to this for me.  The first is to note that I can actually contemplate, and wonder about existence.  Am I entirely dependent on my physical being?  Are people being kept alive in a vegetative state for years 'living'?  When the flame of life is extinguished, is that the end? Complete finality?  

I note that during my lifetime I have developed a relationship with a 'Creator'.  I share this with many others.  Much the same as it is with any relationship this is based on undenyable experience. It will not 'go away'. The relationship speaks to me that there is more.  I am more than just a physical entity.

It is also undeniable that from the beginning of human existence, there has always been a concept that life on earth is not 'it'.  The Ancient Egyptians made this clear to us.  Even today, the jury is still out on the existence of more.., also here in the West.   

In our contemporary western world, the prevailing view appears to be that life on this earth is final.  This is it, so it is worth not dying just yet, (unless you are really not having a good time where assisted suicide seems to be an option).  For the rich West, we channel vast resources into simply staying alive.  

There is also a growing belief that the world will not survive much longer in its present state. Humanity will die out, or return to some primitive form, with the main bulk of the population being wiped out through war or disaster.

Reading the Wikipedia entry on Heaven helps present a diverse history of different understandings of  Heaven across the world, and across time.  

The english word 'Heaven', like the word for 'God', comes from norse mythology.  What are the important distinctions and concepts?  Words from different cultures do not translate well, and require an understanding of the philosophical milieu from which they emanate.

This is my attempt at explaining Heaven.

1) Heaven is the place where the Creator is.  (Is there anywhere where the Creator isn't? What about Hell?)

2) Heaven is a place where people go when they die.  (This throws up other questions.  All people? What about animals?  Vegetables and Trees? Again, what about Hell?)

My take from reading around this subject is that there are three main concepts of heaven.

The first and oldest is that heaven is a spiritual soup where the 'life force' is held and redistributed into all living things.  A final state of harmony exists after a long journey, but this will be similar to nothingness. (A pleasant nothingness however.) In this model, God is the creator.  God is 'good', but health/wellbeing and disfunction/harm and pain are striving to find balance, or harmony.  God is good, but bad is included as a subsection of good.  

The second is that this life is Part I of our experience of life.  Those who survive and to go on to Part II can be understood as on a continuum from 'all people' (universalism) to a select group, either self-selected (God doesn't send anyone to Hell, but sometimes we choose to go ourselves), to the 'chosen', who fit a defined prescription (with different combinations in between).  This can depend on my actions and decisions taken in this life, including 'repentactance', and living for, or submitting my will to, 'the Creator'.  This model includes the possibility of a 'bad' Part II - or 'Hell' (being separated from the Creator). 

The Third is one which has always had some traction across time (including with the famous 'Sadducees', or Jewish philosophers who did not believe in Heaven).  This is that we live one life.  As the flame is extinguished, so are we, and that is it.  Here Heaven can only be what we create here on earth, and the alternative, a living Hell. 

The three things that stand against a nihilist future heaven are 'Faith, Hope and Trust'.  I have faith that my relationship with the Creator, and 'our' relationship with the Creator, is real and enduring.  I am created for a purpose, and this is the reason for existence.  I have hope that life is worth it, even through pain and injustice, because the presence of a 'Good' Creator which makes all things bearable.  I trust that the message put in our hearts in true, and that through whatever happens, we are not alone.

Like life itself, this is a flame that burns despite everything else going on roundabout.