What do you think heaven is like?

Heaven to me is the here and now. (Note the clever word positioning so I avoid the "h" or "H" issue.)
I do not believe in an afterlife. This life is all I've got so I should not squander it. Treat people with respect. Be productive. Contribute to society and those that need help. Eat, drink, and spend in moderation. And always use a firewall and virus protection.

I kind of hope there is no heaven. I don't see why it is reserved for humans. And if squirrels are allowed I am in BIG trouble! :)

Jeff

I think if anyone was qualified to know if heaven exists, it would be Stephen Hawking.

I can't quote it exactly, but in "The Green Mile", the first man executed in the movie has this very conversation with the Tom Hanks. He speculates that heaven is that time when you were the happiest, and he goes on to describe his honeymoon in the mountains.

Then, for the opposite point, consider this:

http://thoughtcatalog.com/heidi-priebe/2015/05/the-definition-of-hell-for-each-myers-briggs-personality-type/

I've already been to hell. so right now is heaven.

ed

Heaven is the antonyms of Hell.

We're prevented here from discussing "Heaven," or arguing the existence of such a place from a religious point of view, but I agree that the question of an afterlife can be discussed outside the realm of religion.

I can easily recall three experiences I've had that convince me of an afterlife, and even of an ability to communicate with those who have passed on.

Forgive me if I've mentioned these before. Years ago I was having my usual ridiculous dreams when suddenly my normal dreaming was interrupted, almost as a TV show is interrupted by a commercial, and there, in strange sepia tones, was my childhood best friend's wife. She simply looked at me and said distinctly, "I just wanted to let you know that everything is OK now." Only a day or so later did we learn that she had died that night of breast cancer, 300 miles away. That's the only time she ever appeared in my dreams, before or after.

The night I learned my Mother passed away, my regular dreaming was interrupted in the same way, again the unusual sepia tones, and there was my Mother as a young woman, dancing and twirling with one arm raised in the air. No words were spoken, but the message was clear. She had lived the last seven years of her life paralyzed on one side of her body by a stroke, and now she was letting me know that she was whole and young and healthy once more.

Six years ago I had a dream in which I was looking across a pond at our six grandchildren, who were playing in a park. A little boy walked up to me and gave me a strange little smile. I asked him who he was, but all he did was smile. When I woke, I told my wife that our daughter was pregnant and that she would have a boy, and that the boy and I would have a special attachment to one another, and that I would know him by that smile. All that proved true, though our daughter didn't even know she was pregnant yet when I had the dream.

Final example. I've done a lot of research on my grandfather's World War One service. Another night, another interruption of regular dreaming. Grandpa and Grandma were seated on their couch. He looked at me and said, "Thank you for continuing to think of me and for having so much interest in my life after all these years."

I'm sure many can find ways to explain away these dreams, but they are as real to me as anything that's happened in my life, and they give me great comfort in the knowledge that there's something wonderful beyond the curtain, and that our loved ones are never truly lost to us.

I have always been a skeptic. The existence of a heaven is difficult to grasp. However, the opposite is even more difficult to fathom so I choose to believe.

Paul

onthefence said...
I think if anyone was qualified to know if heaven exists, it would be Stephen Hawking.�

Interesting. I am curious: why?

Stephen Hawking is an Atheist and his view is plain.
Just because he is an extraordinarily smart physicist does not mean he knows anything about matters of faith.

My personal views aside, I see the question as a sort of chicken and egg dilemma. Every human society has had a view towards an afterlife. And the question is, do we believe in an afterlife because we need to? Did something (someone?) create in us the vision of an afterlife? That question leans well towards the religious/theological view...and may be pushing the envelope here.

In the end, I choose to embrace faith as my response to Pascal's wager. If I'm right, I win. If I'm wrong, then I haven't lost anything.

compiler said...
Prat said:

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I can only hope that heaven is a place where every old man has a Hollywood starlet on each arm, and is rewarded for living a good life, always doing the right things, and being faithful in marriage, by being allowed to engage in all forms of hedonistic pleasure.

With his wife's blessing.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
This is actually a new concept. Heaven (for the males) and hell (for the starlets) at the same time/"place.

Yeah, I always wondered what those 72 virgins must have done to end up with those jerks for eternity.

OK, everyone. Thanks for sharing. Now please move on to another topic.

Jim