Imagine you've died and gone to Heaven.
Joy of joys !!! At last, you've made it. God has seen it fit for you to deserve Heaven. An eternity with Him. You are so glad, more than you've ever been your entire life.
You look around and meet old friends and relatives who have made it here too. You greet them with a tear in your eye - a tear of joy as well as a little sadness when you remember how you missed them and cried when they were gone!
You renew old acquaintances as well as make new ones as you meet the Saints you've read so much about but had never met.
Then you realise someone is missing.
A relative, or friend, whom you'd expected to see
here is missing. You ask St Peter and he confirms your suspicion. That
person is not here.
Is he in transit? In the Purification Center we call Purgatory, perhaps?
No ... he is ... in the other place.
Your joy turns to sadness, confusion, despair even.
How can it be? You so expected to be with that person in Heaven for
eternity.
What do you do?
Seek an explanation from God? Perhaps there's been a
mistake! Ask Him to re-consider. Plead with Him even? Beg that this
person is brought up to Heaven?
Has that person's absence tarnished your joy of being in Heaven? Changed your view of God's justice and mercy?
How can you possibly be here in Heaven for ever,
knowing full well that a dear loved one is in the other place and will
never join you?
On the Cross Jesus forgave those who dared to inflict so much suffering and death to the Son of God. What more heinous sin could your relative or friend have committed to deserve an eternity in hell? If God forgave those who killed His Son; and they probably didn't ask
for forgiveness, why can't He forgive your relative or friend missing
right now?
Your human sense of justice; and your understanding
and perspective of forgiveness and mercy would like things to be
different and, no matter what that person has done in life, you wish him
here with you in Heaven.
But God does not work like that. His perspective is not a human perspective. He decided otherwise.
In Luke 16:19-31 we read that the rich man in "the other place" pleaded
that his brothers may not join him there. But his pleadings were met
with the response that each person makes his or her own decisions in
life, and by their actions they choose whether to go to Heaven or not.
No one goes to hell by mistake. We choose to go there. And many, by their actions, are sleep-walking their way to hell.
The time for action and prayers is now.
And yet ... what if we're one day in Heaven and our loved one is not there? What then?
The time for action and prayers is now.
And yet ... what if we're one day in Heaven and our loved one is not there? What then?
I have often thought of this, too. I have never thought of this part, "And many, by their actions, are sleep-walking their way to hell." You are so right, my friend. We do make the choice, and I always cringe when I hear people say things about God "sending" people to Hell. He gives us the choice, and we make it all on our own...we want the power of our own free will for other things, and we don't want to take the responsibility that comes along with that. God bless you!
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl,
DeleteI believe that many people think that they are Christian, and that this alone will guarantee them a place in Heaven. They are deluding themselves and indeed they are sleep walking their way to hell by their actions.
Thank you so much for your comment and your support.
God bless you and yours.
Victor, this is quite a scary post. I have always imagined there is no sadness in Heaven - but to your point, a scenario where a loved one is not there would seem to conflict with that. This is another topic that is incomprehensible to us as humans, but a motivating one at that. After all, the one way to ensure you don't have to worry about it is to make sure all your loved ones do what they can to get to those Pearly Gates!
ReplyDeleteGod Bless you for doing what you can to help us!
Yes indeed Michael, it is a scary post. It scares me no end. We can encourage our loved ones to believe in God, we can pray for them constantly, but then ... what if ... they're not there with us in Heaven? How can we be happy in Heaven without them? God forgave those who crucified His Son; why not them?
DeleteThe very thought fills me with worries.
God bless you.
I personally have always thought we will be so focused in being in the presence of God---we will know nothing else. The truth of the matter is--no one really knows what Heaven is like. Trying to stay on course and telling the Good News when given the opportunity is our day to day present. And truthfully the present is all we have--HERE!
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
What you say makes sense, Lulu. Of course we will be in the presence of God. And, right now, we hope that our loved one's departed are also with God. But what if ... when we get there, we find some of our loved ones are not with God, like us?
DeleteGod bless you.
I would be deeply unhappy. But that's speaking as a mere mortal. Perhaps, in the next life, in heaven only, we will have the serenity we don't possess now - to accept the irrevocable choices others make. To be able to accept them because we know we have tried to make them choose otherwise.
ReplyDeleteBut then again, Mother Mary is in heaven of course, and yet, till today, She continues to weep for the dying and lost souls.....so maybe, just maybe, tears will have their place in heaven too?
You make a good point about Mary. Is She, as we would be, also sad that some people don't make it to Heaven?
DeleteGod bless you Caitlynne.
I've wondered about that. I remember reading from the theologian Urs von Balthasar about that situation. He questioned whether it was possible in Christianity to lose hope, because that situation would imply that there is no hope for a loved one. I don't think he had any answer, though. One has to pray for all your loved ones. I just hope God is truly merciful.
ReplyDeleteYour last sentence is something to focus on, Manny.
DeleteI believe it was C S Lewis who said that hell is a place where the lock is from inside. He meant that people choose to go there by their actions, and continue to stay there because THEY lock themselves away from God.
So if our loved ones aren't with us in Heaven, we should accept that THEY don't want to be there. ???
This is very confusing.
God bless you and yours.