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My deepest faith in what I cannot imagine
Q:What is your vision of heaven? What images - from Scripture, tradition, culture or your personal experience - best describe heaven for you?
The Psalmist rightly observed "the dead cannot praise God, those who go down in silence." All we know of this world -- indeed, all we know of any world -- is dependent on the five senses and the body that contains them. And when it comes to death and the afterlife, the only thing we know for sure is that the five senses and the body that contains them cease all function.
What we really mean when we ask if there is life after death is this: is there personal consciousness after death. Will I know that I am me, and will others be able to distinguish me when my mortal journey has ended? With confidence and relief, I acknowledge that I don't know and that it does not concern me. As I get older, I am much less concerned with whether the life that animates me remains distinct or rejoins the wholeness of God and the universe. Instead, I am much more intrigued by "death before life," that is, am I in this world for a purpose, and if so, what is it.
Jeremiah reports God as saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." Others may use that verse for the politics of reproductive choice. I understand it, as the first Chief Rabbi of Israel, Abraham Isaac Kook, did; each of us was put into this world because the time had come for us to accomplish something. The life well lived is spent searching for that mission and fulfilling it.
If I "existed" before I was born, then that existence is not dependent on my physical form. Wherever I was, awaiting the will of God, I will return to a place unlike the physical world I inhabit now. Meanwhile, I have something to do that this world needs. If I am devoted to that purpose, it is its own reward. And if I am in any measure successful, then faith tells me the world yet to come will be my destination. And frankly, it won't matter to me if I remain distinct and conscious or become reunited with the Source of All Life.
By
Jack Moline
|
March 19, 2010; 5:29 PM ET
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Posted by: Secular | March 27, 2010 1:53 PM
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AN OPEN INVITATION:
A new blog tackles Church abuse, separation of Church and State, Atheism, Buddhism, Existentialism….
Posted by: Schaum | March 25, 2010 3:42 PM
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Jack Moline: Your comments are so good (so in line with my thought) that they almost make me wish I were a Jew. The only relevant thing Jesus supposedly said on this subject was "The kingdom of heaven is within you", meaning, I think, get it together now in this life or forget about it.
Posted by: cecil4 | March 24, 2010 12:09 PM
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meaning, I think, get it together now in this life or forget about it.
Posted by: cecil4 | March 24, 2010 12:09 PM
This is exactly what every ethical Atheist professes. So what is the big deal about all this nonsense.