Heaven: a thought experiment

A dear friend of mine believes that, because I have not accepted Jesus as my Savior, he will not see me in Heaven. His belief makes him sad. To him, apparently, whatever Heaven is - a place, a state, a community, an experience? - those who get there do so only after death and by virtue of having believed certain things during life.

I accept that my friend's beliefs are right and true for him. And if, after I die, some disembodied spirit with my identity discovers that there is a Heaven and that I am disqualified from it, so be it: my post-death identity may have no memory of having striven to live up to my blessings in this life, but I am at peace, now, with doing the best I can see to do to be a good person.

Perhaps my friend's beliefs about Heaven are not the only rational beliefs on the subject. About what happens after death, most of the people on this planet have different beliefs - to which they are as entitled as my friend is to his. Facts are facts, but I think beliefs are an individual matter which should be judged, if at all, by how well they serve the living soul who holds them.

So I suggest a thought experiment.  

Suppose the Gospel of Thomas, one of the "Gnostic Gospels" discovered in Egypt in 1945, is correct that Jesus said, "the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it."*  

Suppose "the kingdom of the father" is Heaven, or as close to synonymous as most of us can grasp or imagine.

Suppose we humans in fact do not see Heaven - the kingdom of God - because we cannot: it is within us, each of us, individually.** I cannot see it within myself or within you.  You cannot see it within yourself or within me.

Suppose next that seeing is not the only way to prove that something exists.

Suppose that experiencing something exists is - for the one having the experience - a completely sufficient proof that that thing exists, even if it is impossible to create that experience in another person so as to give them that proof. 

Now imagine the experience of Heaven; of being in Heaven, whether it is a place, a state, a community, or simply an experience.  Your imagination will be as good at this task as anyone else's.  Indeed, out of the billions of people on this planet, how could your imagination of the experience of heaven - change as it may over time - NOT be the only conception of Heaven that is most relevant to your life and choices?  

That's the end of the thought experiment: your own imagination - the best you can do - of the experience of Heaven.  I hope it is for you a most wonderful experience - particularly because it may include wonderful things, even unconscious memories, which are unique to your life experience and indescribable to others.

In case my imagining of Heaven may resonate with yours, I will share it: to me, Heaven is the experience that everything - all that I know and all that I do not know - is all right just the way it is.  I do not expect to have that experience except occasionally, briefly, in this life.  Nor do I expect to have that experience much more often, let alone constantly, after I die - wherever or whatever Heaven turns out actually to be!  But I strive to live - particularly to pay attention to Life - so as to have, to savor, and to be grateful for more and more of the experience that everything is all right just the way it is. Love is always present at such moments. And such moments can include experiencing Heaven in others - whether or not, at any given moment, they experience its presence within themselves.

* Gospel of Thomas, saying number 113. 

** See New Testament, Gospel of Luke, Ch. 17, verse 21: "the Kingdom of God is within you." 

Forgetting the Holy Spirit (however named) within

Vacation: "what's the big deal," when one is retired? But this morning my wife and I were preparing for what is a big deal for us: a rare reunion in a distant town with all 4 of her children, all 3 of mine, all 7 wonderful spouses, and all 12 grandchildren. 

I was rushing - busy with tasks that seemed important, including packing. I was anxious about forgetting things. And I was late: not ready when I told my punctual wife I would be. I was cranky, stressed and feeling sorry for myself. I was not good company. 

Once in the car, driving, I reflected on what went wrong. Here's what I realized: I had been trying to do it all - complete pre-departure tasks, avoid failure (to keep my word), be grateful and joyful at the prospect of the reunion - alone. 

I realized that, for relief, for a return to peace, I had only to pause and remember to ask the Holy Spirit (however named) which is within each of us, even me -

"This I am, but Thou please aid me."* 

The response is rarely in ideas, let alone words.

The response is the experience of the presence of grace.

* Quotation from A Testament of Devotion (1941), by Thomas Kelly.

Reality check #26 (Mantra of the moment)

I am doing what I am doing. 

All those other things I could be doing - I am not doing those!

I strive to be conscious of what I am doing and why I prefer doing this rather than that; rather than anything else. 

Moment to moment while conscious, when I do something - be it brave or cowardly, disciplined or lazy, prudent or frivolous, thoughtful or careless, altruistic or self-centered, kind or mean - that action will be my choice, even if I am unaware of the unconscious factors affecting my choice.

I will take responsibility for my choices, including acts of rest, play, and self-care. 

I will strive to be the best citizen, parent, spouse, friend, and neighbor I can see to be.

 

Grace

If you wish grace to come to you, be it.  Act it out. 

It is within you. Always has been. And you cannot help bring it forth for your own peace and joy when you treat other people with grace; when you make of yourself a manifestation of grace, however random and fleeting, to others.

How to see the unconscious mind at work

I am no astronomer, but I understand that black holes - invisible because they emit no light - can be located, and their mass calculated, by degree to which light emitted by other objects is bent by black holes' gravitational fields. I see a metaphor in that phenomenon to our unconscious human minds.

If I perceive something in the outer world or sense something within my body (e.g., tension or hyper-alertness), decide something, do something, or experience something - e.g., all my dreams and any conscious, sudden joy, grief, temptation or yearning - for which I have no clear and objective stimulus or reason, I know my unconscious mind is at work. 

If that seems wrong to you, or for you, think about what part of that metaphor is wrong, and why.

If it seems right, or at least reasonable, I invite you to join me in recognizing the many times and ways our unconscious minds serve us, even guide us. We can cheerfully say, mentally, "Hello, Unconscious! How are you doing? How am I doing? What can you teach me? Let's work together for a fulfilling life!" 

On Living Selfishly: new link, new thoughts

A couple years ago, I posted the link to my TED-X Youth talk “On Living Selfishly” via a Vimeo site with all six talks that day in 2022 at Choate Rosemary Hall School.  I have learned that my talk is on YouTube at the TED Talks channel:

https://youtu.be/6sUNwHXvWSU?si=BUdZ5XM1kZydc7GE 

I seem to be alone - to some, even goofy - in regarding myself as completely selfish. But it seem so obvious to me that one’s values and actions, and one’s responsibility for one’s choices, are what matter! It seems obvious, too, that self-righteousness - particularly, “I’m not selfish” - is toxic to individual happiness, community spirit, and international understanding! So I thank all who see fit to share the link to my TED-X talk.

This past week I gave an updated version of On Living Selfishly at a local service club.  I added this toward the end, after the Dr. Albert Schweitzer's great quotation: 

This is my perspective on a human condition.  However, for those who are, like me, spiritually inclined, there is a clearly holy dimension: the Creator of each of us and all of us - call it God, or Allah, or Brahman, or just Life with a capital L - gives each human being autonomy. 

Entrusted with that autonomy, though we may hope for divine inspiration, are our values, our priorities, and our actions not matters of our choice?

 

Let me share with you a story.  I think it is a Sufi story I first heard from my late mother.

 

"Past the seeker as he prayed came the crippled and the beggar and the beaten.  And, seeing them, the seeker cried, 'Great God, how is it that a loving Creator can see such things and yet do nothing about them?'

 

"To which God replied, 'I did do something. I made you.'"

 

How to discern one's values

There is a perfect, infallible way to discern your values and to examine them: whatever you are doing from moment to moment is the expression, the manifestation, of your conscious and unconscious values.

If that seems wrong to you, think about what part of that logic is wrong, and why.

#confessionofaselfishman