Wednesday, March 12, 2008 at 12:12am
Exploring paradise
Column: New Houses from Old Bricks
Since I just returned from vacationing in a tropical "paradise," it seems appropriate to conclude this series on mortality with a look at heaven.
Heaven was a popular topic with the junior high kids on a recent retreat. "What is heaven like?" they wanted to know. "Do you get to see your dead relatives and pets?" "What body do you use, if your old one is buried in the ground?"
We first considered heaven as a place with particular qualities. Is it really a garden, I wonder, which is the origin of the word paradise? Or is it more like a city, such as the New Jerusalem envisioned in the Book of Revelation? Could it even be "somewhere over the rainbow," maybe?
Or perhaps "sometime" would be more appropriate. People often emphasize the quantity of heaven's time, with the mind-boggling concepts of "eternity" and "forever."
Besides the where and when, there's also the question of who. If "Hell is other people," as Jean-Paul Sartre famously said, is heaven then a blissful solitude? Or are there happy reunions all around? Perhaps the reunions are not even happy per se, but they answer the burning questions of your life, as in the book and film "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."
In the Gospel of John, the "who" is the most important part of eternal life, but it's not human beings to whom Jesus refers. He says to God, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Not a garden or tropical beach or shining city or solitude, nor even an eternity of serenity and joy, but a relationship with God is the defining factor of eternal life.
I doubt if the junior high kids grasped this concept. Sometimes I'm not even sure if I do. But I believe that because of it, this kind of life — "eternal" as quality rather than quantity — is available even on this side of death. It means heaven can break into everyday life with peace and joy. Fra Giovanni Giocondo, an oft-quoted Franciscan friar, gave this idea words back in 1513:
"No Heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it to-day. Take Heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy."
The promise of heaven is often dangled like a cosmic carrot, as an escape from life's trials or a reward for life's good deeds. But when we see heaven as "hidden" in the present time and place, heaven seems less like an extended vacation in paradise or a deferred reward. Through connection with God, "eternal" life seems presently possible and possibly present — braided together with everyday life, or gently pushing against it, like grass reaching up through concrete. Heaven breaks through in a sudden sense of peace, a connection with another person, or a surprising touch of beauty to any of the senses. (I wonder if heaven might actually sound like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's gentle version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow.")
On the retreat, one of the kids asked how we know anything at all about heaven, since the only people who really know for sure are dead. But John's gospel shows us that we're wrong to consider only what happens after death. Perhaps we should look for heaven in our own lives, experiences of life and love we could describe as "eternal."
If we "take heaven" now, as Fra Giovanni advocates, then whatever happens after death is not so much an unknown to be feared, but a territory we have just barely begun to explore.
— — —
Rev. Rebecca Schlatter is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Reno, Nevada. You can contact her at {email newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com}newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com.{/email} © Copyright 2008 by Rebecca Schlatter.
Heaven was a popular topic with the junior high kids on a recent retreat. "What is heaven like?" they wanted to know. "Do you get to see your dead relatives and pets?" "What body do you use, if your old one is buried in the ground?"
We first considered heaven as a place with particular qualities. Is it really a garden, I wonder, which is the origin of the word paradise? Or is it more like a city, such as the New Jerusalem envisioned in the Book of Revelation? Could it even be "somewhere over the rainbow," maybe?
Or perhaps "sometime" would be more appropriate. People often emphasize the quantity of heaven's time, with the mind-boggling concepts of "eternity" and "forever."
Besides the where and when, there's also the question of who. If "Hell is other people," as Jean-Paul Sartre famously said, is heaven then a blissful solitude? Or are there happy reunions all around? Perhaps the reunions are not even happy per se, but they answer the burning questions of your life, as in the book and film "The Five People You Meet in Heaven."
In the Gospel of John, the "who" is the most important part of eternal life, but it's not human beings to whom Jesus refers. He says to God, "Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent" (John 17:3). Not a garden or tropical beach or shining city or solitude, nor even an eternity of serenity and joy, but a relationship with God is the defining factor of eternal life.
I doubt if the junior high kids grasped this concept. Sometimes I'm not even sure if I do. But I believe that because of it, this kind of life — "eternal" as quality rather than quantity — is available even on this side of death. It means heaven can break into everyday life with peace and joy. Fra Giovanni Giocondo, an oft-quoted Franciscan friar, gave this idea words back in 1513:
"No Heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in it to-day. Take Heaven! No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace! The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy."
The promise of heaven is often dangled like a cosmic carrot, as an escape from life's trials or a reward for life's good deeds. But when we see heaven as "hidden" in the present time and place, heaven seems less like an extended vacation in paradise or a deferred reward. Through connection with God, "eternal" life seems presently possible and possibly present — braided together with everyday life, or gently pushing against it, like grass reaching up through concrete. Heaven breaks through in a sudden sense of peace, a connection with another person, or a surprising touch of beauty to any of the senses. (I wonder if heaven might actually sound like Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's gentle version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow.")
On the retreat, one of the kids asked how we know anything at all about heaven, since the only people who really know for sure are dead. But John's gospel shows us that we're wrong to consider only what happens after death. Perhaps we should look for heaven in our own lives, experiences of life and love we could describe as "eternal."
If we "take heaven" now, as Fra Giovanni advocates, then whatever happens after death is not so much an unknown to be feared, but a territory we have just barely begun to explore.
— — —
Rev. Rebecca Schlatter is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Reno, Nevada. You can contact her at {email newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com}newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com.{/email} © Copyright 2008 by Rebecca Schlatter.