Whereas the inducements of Hell are easily appreciated - otherwise there would not be so many who choose it; the appeal of Heaven has been poorly conceptualized by Christians.
Indeed, the way it is usually described - whether anthropomorphically or abstractly - Heaven often sound very un-appealing to someone who is not already a Christian.
The deep truth of Heaven is that it is the place which coheres from Love; whereas Hell only coheres (to the extent it does, temporarily) from expediency and mutual exploitation.
But 'Love' in Heaven is more of a background state, and the description does not give any idea of what resurrected people are actually doing.
I have (fairly recently) clarified for myself that Heaven is the place of creation - create-ing is what people do in Heaven; and we can regard this creating as limited only by the power of imagination when it is formed in a context of Love.
In other words, in Heaven - what can be imagined is created - so long as we realize that Men are not resurrected into Heaven until they have made a permanent and irreversible commitment to live-by-Love.
This is what ensures that Heavenly imaginings not 'limited' nor 'constrained' by Love; but instead are formed in the context of a world of positively-loving Beings - who share God's purposes and whose love for each other forms the background for every-thing they do and think.
That is why and how Heaven is wholly Good.
Imagination in Heaven is therefore reality - because the artificial and false barrier we experience between thought and action is removed in Heaven - thoughts are real, and thoughts are permanent.
(Just as primary creation was from God's thought.)
Whatever your earthly creativity might be, whatever good-imaginings of -making you have ever done - these will be enhanced and made enduring in Heaven. they will be added-to, woven-into God's pre-existing and on-going creation.
Sounds great to me!
By contrast, Hell is the place of chaos and chaos tending - it is a chaotic environment, en route to total chaos and reduction to mere being without form.
Imagination in hell is 'free' to be as evil, selfish, and short-termist as maybe - but there is no familial nor social context for this imagining - therefore it is private and un-shared.
Imagination in Hell is much like a psychotic delusion on earth. One can believe anything is true, really believe it - can dwell In these imaginings as your reality.
...But all this is locked in the nutshell of your own (discarnate, spirit) mind and cannot affect anything else.
So; both in Heaven and Hell, Imagination becomes reality; and we get to live in our 'fantasies'.
In Heaven imagination becomes real-reality, in Hell it becomes delusional-reality.
But to dwell in Heaven one must voluntarily give-up and be cleansed of all imagination that is not rooted in Love. That is the price of admission to Heaven.
Are you prepared to pay that price?
6 comments:
Your description of heaven and hell sounds similar to the movie What Dreams May Come (1998). Would you agree?
@MVT - I don't know the movie; and, because it stars Robin Williams, I never will!
@Bruce - Off the topic of the original post, I know, but out of curiosity, what do you dislike about Robin Williams? I'm not a fan (not a movie or comedy fan in general) but to my limited knowledge Robin Williams hasn't done or said anything more egregious than your typical Hollywood pawn.
Or do you just not like his acting?
@Evan - It's the 'acting' that is the problem. After he became a big star, he became ever-more mannered, sentimental and pandering. Creepy, nauseating - unbearable.
I have an idea I'm having trouble putting into words. Something about the problem with thinking about Heaven having to do with virtue-signaling and people thinking/saying/doing the correct/unified things to show they are going to the good place. And that is antithetical to what is really needed in terms of developing Heavenly imagination. So I can understand why people have had a hard time with imagining Heaven. Love is relational, and easily gets overtaken in people's minds by politics, group-think, etc. The Leftist assault on the concept of "Love" means that anyone with a correct understanding of love has a de facto private understanding of love. I suppose this shouldn't be a problem, but it feels like one anyway. But maybe the key is just that; once we can lay aside our mortal demand to be loved back and in kind, that is important feedback.
@Lucinda "The Leftist assault on the concept of "Love" means that anyone with a correct understanding of love has a de facto private understanding of love."
That's very good! It's things like that which make me realise the great deal of evil planning - the decades of at first playful and subtle, then overt and explicit, subversion and inversion - that lie behind the global situation we find ourselves in, now.
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