Oct 18, 2020

HEAVEN or PARADISE - WHAT IS HEAVEN TO YOU?

 IMAGINING HEAVEN  

THE PEARLY GATES OF HEAVEN

                                           THE PEARLY GATES TO HEAVEN 

In this world of spacetime in 2020, 170,000 people die every 24hours. That makes it small wonder that the processing at what some would call “the Pearly Gates” appears to the recently departed as impossibly chaotic. Despite the constant increase in entities processing the deceased, each ‘soul’ has less than 5 minutes to make a decision concerning their immortality. When you find yourself up against an infinity of existence when in a state of shock for many if not most, the questions are inevitable – so whomever designed the system simply eliminated any easy possibility for those questions.   

Do you really have some concept of what Heaven or Paradise would be for you? The physical descriptions of Heaven in The Bible are either absurd or woefully inadequate. To wit

Dwelling with Jesus in Mansions - John 14:2-3 “In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:2-3).

Heaven Will Be A City Built for Worship - Hebrews 12:22-23 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect (Hebrews 12:22-23).

All Nations and People Will Worship Jesus - Revelation 7:9-10 “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Heaven Will Be Filled with Peace, Joy, and Praise - Revelation 7:15-17 “Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:15-17).

. A Great Storm in Heaven & The Ark of the Covenant - Revelation 11:19 “Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail” (Revelation 11:19).

Jesus Leads Armies Clothed in White on White Horses 19:11-14 “Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses” (Revelation 19:11-14).

Precious Gemstones will Adorn Heaven - Revelation 21:9-11 “‘Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal” (Revelation 21:9-11).

Heaven Will Have Pearl Gates & Streets of Gold - Revelation 21:21 “The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass” (Revelation 21:21).

The Tree of Life in Heaven - Revelation 22:2 “In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (Revelation 22:2).

The Light of God in Heaven - Revelation 22:4-5 “They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:4-5).


               DONNY DEMENTED IN HIS GOLDEN TRUMP TOWER RESIDENCE 

When I read these descriptions of “Heaven”, I cannot help but think of Donald Trump’s apartment in Trump Tower. Who thinks streets of gold and jewel encrusted gates and walls with white robed citizens on white horses has some kind of universal appeal? 

It sounds tacky, garish, way too bright, yet incredibly boring to me. I can dig the Peace and Joy – harmony and lack of war, suffering and disease but everyone in white robes constantly at worship? I cannot imagine taking a vacation there, much less spending eternity.  

Think about it. Did you genuinely believe there is some “Heaven” that would accommodate the likes of Jerry Falwell, Paula White, and Franklin Graham and any true Christian you know? It always seemed to me that any place those people go would be a place I would consider Hell even if they do not. So how does it really work? Wouldn’t we all like to know?

Well guess what people – I have an answer for you.

After passing through that bright white tunnel the soul is housed in what appears to you and those around you as your optimum self-image. What amounts to the you self-identified as your best? Almost everyone going through processing looks like the incredibly appealing individual at something like 18 to 22 years of age.

When you meet your afterlife advisor you are stunned by the fact that you are there, and then stunned again when you appear as the most perfect you. Then you find yourself moving in a mass of near perfect individuals toward a line of stations where an angelic presence asks you: Where would you like to go from here?

Most former living people now deceased say one of the following things – listed here by choice popularity:

1 Heaven Christians 31%

2) Paradise: Muslim 24%

3) Bhuva Loka or Swarga Loka, Hindu 15%

4) Reincarnation as a higher being   Buddhist 7%

5) Where my loved ones are 15%

6) Urantia’s upwardly mobile next. 3%

7) Permanent Termination – an end to all mental activity. 3%

This leaves a mere 2% who insist on asking questions that lead to the opportunity to choose an eternity crafted prior to their passing.

Believe it or not almost nobody asks to go to hell and perhaps more amazing only a tiny fraction of the dead even ask about options. I imagine the confusion leads to being stunned into choosing to utter the optimum destination described by their religion the choice of over 75% including most of those who claim to be irreligious or atheist. It is not like there is any time to consider and it is easy overhear others in the queue who give that most popular and obvious answer according to whatever religion they know best or the default “where my loved ones have gone”.

This is how the moderators of the hereafter can deal with the 170,000 dead every 24 hours. There is no benefit for them if they notify everyone that they are obligated to provide for any conceivable choice, and the idea of an ill formed eternity is too dangerous to contemplate. Recall the idea of one who asked for eternal life but failed to mention aging.

Something like 110 BILLION human beings have lived on Earth since homo sapiens first appeared some 50,000 years ago. Let's round that down to 100 Billion to eliminate those who appeared and died prior to the advent of religion  

Writing dates back 5,220 years and monotheism as a concept dates to the 6th century BCE when Judaism began so 2,800 years ago - so maybe we can subtract those with no idea of an afterlife. Estimates of 4 to 5 million human beings in 600 BCE to 7.8 to 8 billion at present mean the 1968 estimate of 30 "ghosts" to every living human (105 billion) made by Arthur C. Clark in the 2001 novel made film by Stanley Kubrick are accurate. That's a lot of population to provide for in an afterlife of any type. 

If we consider the many worlds theory of Quantum Mechanics, the space required for 110 billion eternal humans is not a problem. Given the vastness of space with more 200 billion galaxies we have more than one galaxy for every human who ever existed without any need for a quantum realm. Every human can have a planet or multiple planets for their eternity. I like that idea. 

Or even better within the Quantum realm each human can inhabit a duplicate  Earth circa any year they choose and live again with the knowledge of their past life as an immortal with the power to shape the world into their own personal heaven.