With the news of a dear friend passing away, and the passing of so many dear friends last year…I have thought a lot about the afterlife.
Does heaven exist? What will it be like? Which path will get me there?
Some people believe we come back as another physical entity, multiple times, until we reach nirvana.
Others believe heaven is an orgy of sex and food. (Now, that’s my kind of heaven! Bring on the harem girls and Hostess cupcakes!)
I would hear Christians say that they want to follow Jesus’ example of “storing up, treasures in Heaven” (Matthew 6:20). Unfortunately, they had a materialistic spin on what Jesus had in mind. They went on to talk about how big their crowns are gonna be, and how luxurious their mansion will be. Really? Does it matter if you have the biggest mansion on your ‘block in heaven, even if you have no loved ones or family and friends to share it with?
Jesus said, “in my Father’s house are many mansions” (John 14:2). Maybe that’s not the mansions we believe it to be in our carnal, materialistic mindset. If the body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit, than surely, our hearts can be a “mansion” for God, himself…His own true, dwelling place…
…
So many people, of so many different religions, fight, lie, steal, kill, or die their way into a place we hardly know anything about.
It seems that most religious extremists will do anything to get into heaven, despite the cost of innocent lives that are trampled, under foot, in a “holy” crusading rampage.
So, I ask, what is the point of religion? Is it to reject selfishness in the world, only to be arrogantly driven toward a goal of an afterlife where we can play harps on our fluffy clouds?
I don’t know about you, but, if I make it to heaven, by God’s grace, I don’t want my cloud to be lonely. In other words, the ideal of religion shouldn’t be MY selfish pursuit to find the Kingdom of God, but, on the contrary, it should be about how many loved ones I can take with me, along the journey.
Our motives are all wrong. We’re thinking about how many points we can score for OURSELVES in the afterlife, rather than being mindful of those we leave behind.
There is another “afterlife” that we don’t hear enough about, and that is: LEGACY. When we go, what do we leave to others? And I am not just talking about material wills. I mean to say, what are we leaving, not only to our children, but the world, in general. Are we leaving a legacy of faith, hope, and love, or, are we leaving a legacy of fear, despair, and hate?
Even though I have lost many friends and loved ones, over the last few years, I am comforted by the fact that they were the kind of people who never thought of themselves. They weren’t trying to fight their way into heaven, so they can get their “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow. They showed loved, and they shared so much with us. They left a legacy that is immeasurable. And in that fact, I believe, they won their way into heaven, without even realizing it.
They weren’t obsessed with the thought of getting to heaven someday, because they were too busy bringing heaven...here, on earth.
They brought heaven on earth, via heaven’s universal language: love.
And God honored their faithfulness by letting them into his kingdom.
It’s a win-win, for everyone involved. Even for those, like us, who are left behind.
I think that’s a sobering and humbling thought for us so-called “religious” people, who think we have all the answers.
Even Saint Paul, who seemed to be an authority on everything, admitted, “Now, we see through a mirror dimly…For now, I know in part; but then, I shall know…even as I am known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Even Paul admitted, that he didn’t have all the answers, but, he knows about the power of love and forgiveness, as he used to be on a “witch hunt” for Christians, until the power of love intervened in his own life.
I am reminded of the blind man who was healed by Jesus in the Gospel of John. And the teachers of law, condescendingly asked him, “How can you say that a ‘sinner’ healed you?” The man answered and said, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I do not know. All I know is that I was blind, but now I see” (John 9:24-25).
We don’t know, as a scientific fact, that there is a heaven. We’d like to believe in heaven. We’d like to get there one day, and bring everyone with us.
But we do know, that love changes lives. This is the message left to us by those dear friends who have gone on before us. This is their legacy.
I am so grateful for having known Danielle, Anthony, Eileen, and Estelle, and I know that their legacy of love will live forever in our hearts and minds, just as I believe their spirits will live on in heaven, for all eternity.
Love,
John
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