How could heaven be heaven?

[Muttly]

I am trying to conceive what kind of place heaven must be that we can life there in peace and harmony always joyful, always serene.

What might that actually look like. Does anyone have any ideas. I am thinking tropical island feel with a cool breeze although all physical needs would no longer exist. Spiritual needs are entirely met, I guess.

What would heaven look like for you, who would be there? How are the hours to eternity whittled away? What do people do?

There are no “hours” to eternity, OP. That’s rather the point- it is outside of space and time, so there is no passage of time, no ageing. It would be a nightmare if not - think how bored and tired you would be after a thousand years, let alone a million!

Put it this way, there’s a reason that most religions or religiously-inspired literary texts (a) are either very hand-wavy about what exactly heaven is like, (b) make it sound dull as ditchwater (Dante used up all his imagination on the livelier Hell and Purgatory) or (c) describe it in terms that reflect the specific thing the people who evolved the individual religion prize most — like the Muslim visualisation of Jannah has a lot about coolness, shady trees and flowing waters, which makes a lot of sense for a faith that developed in desert areas.

Is that not true in many ways for this world too Babdoc in that time is a human construct largely based around availability of light? The definition of the second in Physics is one of the trickiest definitions.

I’d love to know how people conceptualise an eternity spent in heaven.

I imagine unity with God and all spirit in Heaven. And light.

I imagine unity with God and all spirit in Heaven. And light

I really like that idea.

And I did have a dream once where I ended up in a beautiful castle, by the sea, dancing. It felt incredibly safe from danger and I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and joy. That's what I imagine feeling like.

The Catholic interpretation of heaven (to my understanding) is that you are with God’s - who is all good. So you are happy in the presence of the beatific vision. I used to explain it to my children as a place where we can do whatever we want. What we will want to do is worship God.
Then after the end of the world we will get our bodies as well to join our Souls. But our bodies will be perfect. And we will be happy all the time.
I was thinking about this recently about how amazing it is that we are immortal. Scary, wonderful and exciting all at the same time!

I kind of imagine having a lovely reunion with people I love and then being in an eternal moment of perfect peace and love. Timeless. As you say it could get boring if the time thing came too much into it.

And in response to just your subject line my first thought was - how could heaven be heaven if you knew there were people in hell?

And in response to just your subject line my first thought was - how could heaven be heaven if you knew there were people in hell?

Serenade my conceptualisation of hell is very different to what I was taught. I believe that when you are awaiting heaven (which I struggle to conceptualise) we have a compassionate supportive being who helps us to reconcile any seriously immoral choices from our lives if we choose to do that. God’s forgiveness for me requires that we ask him for forgiveness with a clean heart, by that I mean that we genuinely face up to that shadow part of ourselves and we are completely open to making things right with God by facing up to any wrongs.

So for example if you consider an extreme example in Hitler he has the opportunity to reflect on his life, on his actions and he can return to any moment in time to learn how to do things differently. He can choose to learn about all of the different choices he could have made, better choices and he could face up to the unfathomable harm he caused. Someone as limited as Hitler would likely never choose to face up to and reconcile his past dealings so he spends an eternity choosing not to do so. An eternity alone in denial about what he has done is his own personal hell. That is my conceptualisation of hell, something of your own choosing, choosing never to go with God because facing up to who you are is so painful. But the option always exists to change it.

A few weeks ago, I dreamt I was in heavens waiting room waiting for the doors to open and it was reminiscent of our extremely dated local hospital. E.g faded seating, ugly yellow strip lighting, yellow discoloured walls, stained floor, old magazines.

I only mention it because it really shocked me!! And I wanted to get it off my chest as the next day my Aunt died.

This thread is lovely because it’s helping me mend my view of heaven again.

(Please excuse my username - my clergy called me a holy trouble maker because I like to fight / campaign for equality!)

Lol, OP, if only that were so! But my grey hair and wrinkles tell me every day that the passage of time is very much a fact in this mortal world!
I look forward to being reunited with my much loved DH, who died at 36. And thanks to eternity being timeless, and spiritual, I will not be meeting a young man as a tired old crone, which would have been heartbreaking.

Lol, OP, if only that were so! But my grey hair and wrinkles tell me every day that the passage of time is very much a fact in this mortal world!
I look forward to being reunited with my much loved DH, who died at 36. And thanks to eternity being timeless, and spiritual, I will not be meeting a young man as a tired old crone, which would have been heartbreaking.

That sounds fab Babdoc. I hope that when my times comes my DH will be there waiting for me.

I don’t see a heaven for me with the rest of my family in it though because there was very serious abuse issues in our background, I cannot believe that God just washes away child abuse with a wave of a magic wand and that makes it very difficult to understand what heaven might look like for me compared to what others describe. I also struggle to imagine what spending an enter out doing nothing but in absolutely happy bliss might look like.

I don’t see a heaven for me with the rest of my family in it though because there was very serious abuse issues in our background, I cannot believe that God just washes away child abuse with a wave of a magic wand and that makes it very difficult to understand what heaven might look like for me compared to what others describe. I also struggle to imagine what spending an enter out doing nothing but in absolutely happy bliss might look like.

I see it as everyone/everything in heaven having complete unity with God. Any bad aspect of person cannot enter into unity so that part of them will be lost so they can be reconciled to God. People have to let go of / relinquish the bad in themselves. Heaven is not a place for egos, Heaven cannot contain any evil.

I see it as everyone/everything in heaven having complete unity with God. Any bad aspect of person cannot enter into unity so that part of them will be lost so they can be reconciled to God. People have to let go of / relinquish the bad in themselves. Heaven is not a place for egos, Heaven cannot contain any evil.

Yes I really like the way you have expressed this. That is very similar to how I see it.

My own background is Catholicism although I am very much lapsed.

They believe, or at the very least they widely taught in Catholic schools, similar to the Jews and many other organised religions, that only baptised Catholics can go to heaven and some Clergy have expressed views on their some of their own members who have committed unspeakable evil entering heaven but those from other religions couldn’t. I have always found some of these ideas very hard to understand. I mean how could a person rationalise that for example a particular Muslim child who had no evil in their lives or a particular Jewish nurse who had acted with all of the human values we hold so dear would not be part of God’s plan but a priest such as Brendan Smith who spect his entire ministry using his position to gain access to highly vulnerable children can apparently enter heaven with a simple confession prior to his death.

I personally think I agree with you that heaven is a place without evil and I agree that you have to vanquish your evil aspects to get in. I still find it extremely hard to imagine what it is like to spend an eternity there though.

If you go back to early religious texts of the Abrahamic religions heaven was based on closeness to god, the more worthy one was the closer they were to god. Hell was not a fiery damnation, in many cases it was actually a frozen wasteland, but they key factor in it being hell was a absence of gods love and warmth.

Of course that also requires you to believe in a god.

Heaven is a place of peace for me where my dd rests with my mum and dad in eternal peace.
I believe when my time comes I will be reunited with her in Heaven.

For me heaven is white and calm. No concept of time. Just 'being' there with everyone and animal that has passed before me.

When I die, if I experience that for just a moment then I will happy

Parkhead sounds absolutely perfect.

*For me heaven is white and calm. No concept of time. Just 'being' there with everyone and animal that has passed before me.

When I die, if I experience that for just a moment then I will happy*

Sounds absolutely beautiful and I love the idea of eternity being experienced as just a moment. That really appeals to me.

They believe, or at the very least they widely taught in Catholic schools, similar to the Jews and many other organised religions, that only baptised Catholics can go to heaven and some Clergy have expressed views on their some of their own members who have committed unspeakable evil entering heaven but those from other religions couldn’t.

Yes, I struggle with views such as those you were taught. I am between denominations and of mixed background. It helps me to think of the full definition of catholic in our language:

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/catholic

cath·o·lic (kăth′ə-lĭk, kăth′lĭk)
adj.
1. Of broad or liberal scope; comprehensive: "The 100-odd pages of formulas and constants are surely the most catholic to be found" (Scientific American).
2. Including or concerning all humankind; universal: "what was of catholic rather than national interest" (J.A. Froude).
3. Catholic
a. Of or involving the Roman Catholic Church.
b. Of or relating to the universal Christian church.
c. Of or relating to the ancient undivided Christian church.
d. Of or relating to those churches that have claimed to be representatives of the ancient undivided church.
n. Catholic
A member of a Catholic church, especially a Roman Catholic.

[Middle English catholik, universally accepted, from Old French catholique, from Latin catholicus, universal, from Greek katholikos, from katholou, in general : kat-, kata-, down, along, according to; see cata- + holou (from neuter genitive of holos, whole; see sol-- in Indo-European rootss).]

ca·thol′i·cal·ly (kə-thŏl′ĭk-lē) adv.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
catholic (ˈkæθəlɪk; ˈkæθlɪk)
adj
1. universal; relating to all men; all-inclusive
2. comprehensive in interests, tastes, etc; broad-minded; liberal
[C14: from Latin catholicus, from Greek katholikos universal, from katholou in general, from kata- according to + holos whole]
catholically, catholicly adv

Catholic (ˈkæθəlɪk; ˈkæθlɪk)
adj
1. (Roman Catholic Church) denoting or relating to the entire body of Christians, esp to the Church before separation into the Greek or Eastern and Latin or Western Churches
2. (Ecclesiastical Terms) denoting or relating to the Latin or Western Church after this separation
3. (Ecclesiastical Terms) denoting or relating to the Roman Catholic Church
4. (Ecclesiastical Terms) denoting or relating to any church, belief, etc, that claims continuity with or originates in the ancient undivided Church
n
(Ecclesiastical Terms) a member of any of the Churches regarded as Catholic, esp the Roman Catholic Church
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
cath•o•lic (ˈkæθ ə lɪk, ˈkæθ lɪk)

adj.
1. universal in extent; encompassing all; wide-ranging: catholic tastes and interests.
2. having broad sympathies; broad-minded; liberal.
3. pertaining to the whole Christian body or church.
[1300–1350; Middle English < Latin catholicus < Greek katholikós general

I don’t believe in heaven. I believe in reincarnation until enlightenment. So once, I’m a good enough human being, i am freed of the cycle of physical organic forms and I transform into pure energy and then I am at one with the universe. An everlasting life form with no organic/physical body but just made of energy. Which could be a sort of heaven to some?

Have a look at katkerr.com or revealingheaven.com
I have followed this lady for many years, and tested everything she says by the Bible. She's totally legit.

This post reminds me of five year old me wondering how it was possible that Santa Claus managed to deliver presents to children all over the world in one night

This thread is mind boggling🤦 I was brought up in a very strict religion that believed the 'good' dead would be brought back to life on a paradise earth for eternity and only a few would be ruling in Heaven. Even as a child I used to think wouldn't everybody get bored and how unfair it would be that poor children in Africa would die because they weren't in this religion. Needless to say I no longer believe in religion although the jury is out on God & afterlife🤷

Sweetbabycheeses99 👍😂. Love your name, my eldest son always asks where the sweet baby cheeses is at christmas😂
My favoured pondering as a child was what was beyond the universe, used to picture a giant wall but then think something must be behind it! I don't think our mortal brains are equipped for thinking of something that goes on forever, including eternal heavenly life😏

Sweetcheeses is a great user name.

Mossstitch I think my mortal brain struggles to conceptualise an eternal heavenly life but I’m very interested to hear how others have done so.

I suppose I was wondering how people saw “being” anything for an eternity was something aspirational because in my own particular circumstances and from my limited perspective I struggle with this, but I am grateful to have gotten some very helpful ideas from others about how they view this.