You're in heaven....now what?

[jmvizanko]

Excellent point. How could you live with yourself knowing all the suffering was going on on Earth?

Don't forget all the people you knew being tortured in hell.

But god is just so purty! Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

 

[Wombat]

Clearly anything said about the nature of Heaven is purely speculative...but the speculation can be based on scriptural clues...and the speculation can be fun...if nothing else.
Imagine a realm in which ‘Thought is the wellspring of existence’- with your thoughts you make the world- immediately and instantaneously. To visualise and imagine and have that work come into being....to further sculpt craft and detail it with endless imagination.
From an Artists, Gardeners, Architects, Musicians perspective this is Heaven on a stick. No labour, no struggle, no materials, no starving in a garret....no limits and no restrictions to the creative impetus....unless you wish to imagine some into being.
For a Gardener no restrictions on scale or grandeur of garden...imagine entire new families of plants into being...imbue them with qualities of music as well as scent.
And/or spend time (that does not exist;-) wandering around looking at/experiencing the unlimited creative imagination of others...see what Sinan has been up to since being the greatest architect on earth....see if Brahms is actually jamming with Hendrix like people claim.
Heaven would be a place of such limitless creativity...restrained only by imagination.
And if such an environment exists....it would also be Hell.
For all those devoid of positive imagination and creative impetus they would conceptualise a realm of violent self interest and self obsession.
Heaven and Hell may well be the same (non) location....determined by sliding scale of creative conceptualization, soul/spiritual development and intelligent visualization.
3D (6D?) environmental movie making....’Avatar’ or ‘Antichrist’.

When asked if he wouldn’t get bored with an eternity in Heaven Winston Churchill responded- “Oh no Madam.....I would devote the first ten thousand years alone to learning the basics of oil painting”
I’m with Winston on this one.

 

[bobhikes]

You get to create your own earth. You goal is to get as many people on that earth into heaven without interfering in there day to day lives.

That should keep you busy.

 

[Noaidi]

How do you live with yourself now with all the suffering going on on Earth?

I do what I can in terms of giving to charity, educating people about natural disasters and living a more equitable lifestyle.

And it still hurts to see what goes on in this world.

My point is that in this world (the only one we know of with certainty), we can make a difference, no matter how small. In heaven, if all we do is get blissed out with a god, then what's the point? How could we do that with a clear conscience knowing what is still happening on Earth?

 

[Reptillian]

I just asked my magic 8-ball if its fun in heaven it said: my reply is no. Then I asked if its fun in hell, once again: my reply is no. Then I asked if it is fun in purgatory and it said: it is certain

So my 8-ball says purgatory is the fun place in the afterlife.

 

[Vansdad]

Prepare to meet your Maker. Then enlightenment. And all this will come to light. For everyone. And we will learn the errors of our ways. At least that's how I believe it to be.

 

[ninerbuff]

What is there NOT to learn is the real question. God does not mind you knowing how he does things or how he makes things or how he runs things. Now we see as through a darkened glass but then we will know fully. In an instant? Maybe. I tend to think othewise.

God is truth, and there are so many things that he knows that he has not revealed yet. And im confident he will do so during eternity. For what purpose? Not so that you can adapt but so that you will be amazed and in awe.

Knowing in heaven means knowing God. And i doubt God will put a limit on you and say 'no more' you can only know me this much and not more.

God is infinitely complex and intricate and smart. He will not hinder you from coming to him again and again to find out more and more about him and his ways and in the process be amazed more and more.

Oh the depth of the wisdom of God! It will take more than a hundred eternities to plunge to the bottom of it. (If that is possible)

This god couldn't even get the commandments right full well knowing that rape and slavery were serious issues. That shows how smart god was. Someone told you a great story about heaven. I'd rather stay in Disneyland.

 

[ninerbuff]

no food no water...your right... no more blind, deaf....etc... and we will see and hear things human cannot imagine...

Imagination is easy. That's why we've got great stories that are fiction.

 

[ninerbuff]

Yip there is no drug, no illicit sex, no adrenalin rush, no porn, no two-bit God belittling pleasure here on earth that will even come close to the joy we will receive while beholding such glory.

Oh then I definitely don't want heaven!!!

 

[ellenjanuary]

Yeah, right... me and Gwyneth Paltrow... but what does she think about that?

I'll tell you a secret: we're not what we think we are. The first thing that happens when the mortal shell passes, one feels so light; unburdened... and that's the end of things. It's cool, don't sweat it.

As for "suffering," that is a concern of life; that too shall pass.

 

[outhouse]

there sure are allot of people with vivid imaginations of a place no one has ever come back from and explained what its all about.

everlasting life was bait to pull pagans into the religion, works great on old people who out of fear dont want to leave all they worked for behind, family loved ones ect ect.

a primal fear

 

[cottage]

Prepare to meet your Maker. Then enlightenment. And all this will come to light. For everyone. And we will learn the errors of our ways. At least that's how I believe it to be.

The 'error of our ways'! Which is, what?

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I don't think I'd be able to resist the urge to pee down on everyone below.

 

[Madhuri]

I've noticed from threads like this that non-religious people really have very little or no knowledge about religious concepts.

 

[ninerbuff]

I've noticed from threads like this that non-religious people really have very little or no knowledge about religious concepts.

I was raised catholic and have heard the stories and promises and eternal glory, and heaven etc. I became non religious because the "knowledge" of these concepts just didn't add up to me. Unlike much of my family who don't question it, I took the route to try to understand doctrine and purpose. They just go with the flow so as not to upset anything. Most of my family knows I'm non religious (and of course are praying for me) but it's never been an obstacle in our relationship.

 

[diosangpastol]

im planning to travel into other galaxy.. million of light years away... i will not get bored there...

 

[Noaidi]

I've noticed from threads like this that non-religious people really have very little or no knowledge about religious concepts.

So what is it that we non-religious folks are not grasping regarding the OP?

 

[blackout]

We all plan to make a break for it.

 

[Madhuri]

So what is it that we non-religious folks are not grasping regarding the OP?

Where to start?
Concepts like...the soul, Spirit, the nature of the spiritual vs material existence, comments like: "vivid imaginations of a place no one has ever come back from", which show a lack of knowledge about religious beliefs/philosophy, or the 'location' of heaven, or how different religions view the nature of the cosmos. Grasping an understanding of these concepts would help one to relate to the heaven idea.

Instead I usually see very basic and sarcastic comments that take a concept out of context and give it an entirely different meaning (sometimes). Just a general lack of understanding, from my observation.

 

[Noaidi]

Where to start?
Concepts like...the soul, Spirit, the nature of the spiritual vs material existence, comments like: "vivid imaginations of a place no one has ever come back from", which show a lack of knowledge about religious beliefs/philosophy, or the 'location' of heaven, or how different religions view the nature of the cosmos. Grasping an understanding of these concepts would help one to relate to the heaven idea.

Instead I usually see very basic and sarcastic comments that take a concept out of context and give it an entirely different meaning (sometimes). Just a general lack of understanding, from my observation.

I can see your point, but the OP seems to relate more to the Judeo-Christian version of heaven than to any other version. The idea of basking eternally in god's love and doing not much else is a common theme in that tradition (plus the OP mentioned jesus specifically).

It was that view of heaven that I made my initial comment about.