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What's your heaven like?

gromit

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Mine actually would of course have to have my family and everyone dear to me. It would be sort of like a combination of this:

Willy-Wonka-willy-wonka-and-the-chocolate-factory-642002_420_335.jpg

(including chocolate river and everything else from that story)

And this:
km05-82%20Children%20-%20General%20Cambodia%20Children%20skipping%20rope%20Kampong%20Cham.jpg


And these:
00119010_.jpg
birds,dreamy,summer,field,meadow,prairie,summer-4c4f18d2b96d9bd09960354efbfa2a44_m.jpg


And this:
kiss.jpg


And this and this:
400_F_10040278_JSqnCyiCOcyaai5v2KVFdP5aNsffl0Xv.jpg
trinity-college-library-dub.jpg


Yep. Heaven.
 

Lark

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I'm with Gromit to be honest. That's my preference anyway, library, babes, natural world and perhaps the feasting halls of Valhalla on hand too.

That's my personal preference though, I'm sure that if there is an afterlife and there's personal survival, like it not a case of reaching nirvana and getting free from reincarnation, then the very prescence of God will suffice to be enough to provide eternal contentment.

Hell, seperation from God, trauma, confusion, something out for a Clive Barker novel.
 

Lady_X

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really i'm with you guys. heaven to me would be being able to create things with the mind...design your own environment....with everything that you enjoy...great music...architecture...sex...hugs and kisses...food...visiting different environments...helping people...conversations with some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers...and everyone being completely aware of the meaning of life...while retaining with great detail everything about their life on earth and what it all meant and why things happened as they did...those conversations with people would be so fascinating to me.
 

Lark

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really i'm with you guys. heaven to me would be being able to create things with the mind...design your own environment....with everything that you enjoy...great music...architecture...sex...hugs and kisses...food...visiting different environments...helping people...conversations with some of the greatest thinkers and philosophers...and everyone being completely aware of the meaning of life...while retaining with great detail everything about their life on earth and what it all meant and why things happened as they did...those conversations with people would be so fascinating to me.

I imagine it would be a completely fantastic example of the "no jerks" rule, imagine that, the world would be heaven if no one was being a jerk, either through ignorance or deliberate assholery.
 

Lady_X

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I imagine it would be a completely fantastic example of the "no jerks" rule, imagine that, the world would be heaven if no one was being a jerk, either through ignorance or deliberate assholery.

totally yep...and it makes sense that after you're made aware of the point of it all and can feel the beauty and the pain that everyone has gone through that your previous detached assholeish mindset just wouldn't fit anymore.
 

gromit

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totally yep...and it makes sense that after you're made aware of the point of it all and can feel the beauty and the pain that everyone has gone through that your previous detached assholeish mindset just wouldn't fit anymore.

I have a friend whose idea of justice (like cosmic or divine justice) is that the truth is made known...
 

Lady_X

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seems right to me. :)
 

forzen

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Heaven is when everyone can give themselves any abilities they desire using their immagination. Want to fly, so be it. Want to fly in space, done. You wanna know how it feels like to screw yourself, okay. However, there is a limitation, the ability has to be channel from your body, so no telekinesis or control of fire. If there was no limit, it will get boring too quickly and no one would be immaginative about it.
 

Beorn

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One of the few exact things said in the bible about the afterlife is that there is no marriage. I really hope that either a transcriber got that wrong or the apostle took it upon himself to lie for pragmatic purposes (widows and widowers were afraid of remarrying and having multiple spouses in heaven).
 

wolfy

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I keep on thinking it is something like Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in the first movie.
 

Katsuni

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One of the few exact things said in the bible about the afterlife is that there is no marriage. I really hope that either a transcriber got that wrong or the apostle took it upon himself to lie for pragmatic purposes (widows and widowers were afraid of remarrying and having multiple spouses in heaven).

Unlikely; the bible's version of heaven there is no love for anyone other than god. Yeu would have no real affection nor association with anyone else. It's like if yeu went to church for prayer and praise but had absolutely zero connection to anyone else there.

Not that it'd matter since yeu'd have no rest, nor need for rest; no relaxation, nor desire for relaxation; no desires, nor want for such. All yeu would have is the unending praise of god with nothing else in yeur day. Ever. For eternity.

There's no point for marriage to exist in the bible's incarnation of heaven. Yeu'd never be allowed to love anyone other than god anyway.
 

Arthur Schopenhauer

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Unlikely; the bible's version of heaven there is no love for anyone other than god. Yeu would have no real affection nor association with anyone else. It's like if yeu went to church for prayer and praise but had absolutely zero connection to anyone else there.

I don't know about that. I mean, there are instances throughout the Bible where people residing in heaven were doing something other than praising god with worship.

Not that it'd matter since yeu'd have no rest, nor need for rest; no relaxation, nor desire for relaxation; no desires, nor want for such. All yeu would have is the unending praise of god with nothing else in yeur day. Ever. For eternity.

How is mindless worship... Worship? Also, again, I do not recall scripture that said we would have no desires. (protip: a desire to worship = a desire.)

There's no point for marriage to exist in the bible's incarnation of heaven. Yeu'd never be allowed to love anyone other than god anyway.

I don't recall this.
 

The_Liquid_Laser

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if you believe in heaven how do you see it?

if you could create your own how would it be?


I believe the most important aspect of heaven will be the change in perspective that everyone will have. Everything will become clear, and we will no longer be obsessed with our own pettiness or selfishness. Instead the things that are important will always be there in our minds reminding us of what is important.

Human need does not simply disappear. Rather people become so aware of each other's needs that no need is neglected anymore. Each knows the type of work that they would most enjoy, and that work is meaningful because it meets a need that other people have. So during the day people engage in meaningful and enjoyable work. The rest of the time is spent mostly with loved ones, and each person is always filled with a deep appreciation for the people close to them.

Every day is not necessarily fun. Some days can even be quite frustrating. However when taken in larger chunks of time people always see their life as very fulfilling. And every human need is met by someone else doing meaningful work. Everyone enjoys their work and the people they are with. Because of this they lose all track of time as one does when a person is really enjoying something. Consequently one can't really tell if they've been alive a few days or for hundreds of years. Instead people simply enjoy the moment, and they have no need to worry about the future.

I tend to think that every person can create a small slice of heaven on earth if they really aim to. And that little taste will cause us to look forward to the paradise that God has waiting for us. :)
 

Lark

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One of the few exact things said in the bible about the afterlife is that there is no marriage. I really hope that either a transcriber got that wrong or the apostle took it upon himself to lie for pragmatic purposes (widows and widowers were afraid of remarrying and having multiple spouses in heaven).

Remember what the Anabaptists interpreted this as meaning? They became polygamists as a result.
 

Lady_X

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I believe the most important aspect of heaven will be the change in perspective that everyone will have. Everything will become clear, and we will no longer be obsessed with our own pettiness or selfishness. Instead the things that are important will always be there in our minds reminding us of what is important.

Human need does not simply disappear. Rather people become so aware of each other's needs that no need is neglected anymore. Each knows the type of work that they would most enjoy, and that work is meaningful because it meets a need that other people have. So during the day people engage in meaningful and enjoyable work. The rest of the time is spent mostly with loved ones, and each person is always filled with a deep appreciation for the people close to them.

Every day is not necessarily fun. Some days can even be quite frustrating. However when taken in larger chunks of time people always see their life as very fulfilling. And every human need is met by someone else doing meaningful work. Everyone enjoys their work and the people they are with. Because of this they lose all track of time as one does when a person is really enjoying something. Consequently one can't really tell if they've been alive a few days or for hundreds of years. Instead people simply enjoy the moment, and they have no need to worry about the future.

I tend to think that every person can create a small slice of heaven on earth if they really aim to. And that little taste will cause us to look forward to the paradise that God has waiting for us. :)
agreed, very well said. :)
 

KDude

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hmm, heaven to me looks like earth, but more lush, everyone's got a cool house, and all of your neighbors are fun, intelligent, kind, and righteous (not necessarily religious). and i'd like to think it's a place where none of us have tapped into ultimate potential yet (like, we don't know "everything" exactly.. but we get learn from each other. like you could spend days with a martin luther king or a joan of arc or train with bruce lee... and actually learn something from them. and communing with the divine too, of course).

[edit] also, my pets will be there.. but i won't call them "pets" at that point. umm.. more like all of my "animal friends". ;)
 

1104

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my first thought of heaven is always the pop Christian land of clouds. it works fine for me, but i'd rather live on a cloud bound to earth.
beyond that, i'm open to any interpretation. the only consistent characteristic is bliss.

likewise, hell is the absence of relief. i'd exist for eternity at the coldest point on Earth, perhaps at the bottom of a polar ocean, and i wouldn't die, or go numb, or leave. or i could simply lose the ability to sleep. who's seen The Hunger?
 

Mole

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A Whale of a Place

i'm open to any interpretation. the only consistent characteristic is bliss.

Through gene sequencing we have just discovered we share genes with Neanderthals, so we can presume there are Neanderthals in heaven.

But we have also discovered through gene sequencing that we share genes with bananas, so we can equally presume that there are bananas in heaven.

Also we have discovered that we share genes with the AIDS virus, so the AIDS virus will also join us in heaven.

And as heavenly bliss is wish fulfilment, we can wish that the whole tree of life joins us in heaven, from the lowliest virus to the largest Blue Whale.

Heaven will be a whale of a place.
 

Eric B

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What I really hope for is what I describe here:
BDMNQR Essays: Math & Science
We could explore what might have been at any point if things were different, in addition to exploring the rest of the universe, higher dimensions, and seeing God and fellowshipping with Him and each other forever. Most religion just posits this last part, making it seem like time continues as we know it, and that's what we'll be doing for an infinite amount of time. More recently (from the influence of the Millerites, who emphasize a physical Kingdom on earth), the mainstream Church has added this perfect utopia to the endless worship, but looking at time in the same linear fashion we experience it now, it still ends up seeming boring or meaningless after awhile.
The only thing I can't figure out, is if we can experience counterfactuals, then are the other people in them real, or would everyone have to experience them together?
 

proximo

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My daughter asked me this question a couple of years ago. I said I didn't really know, as I haven't really ever given it much thought, since my faith has never been the kind that relied on/needed promises of death not being the end, to exist. But then later that week I wrote this, and something in me said it was the answer to her question.

"Show me the world, his world and mine within it
Show me the reality and I still choose
I still want - it's what I want
what I choose
to go there, to leave this
and go there, to stay
amidst the disease, the blood, the danger,
under the starkest of kings
let me - let me see it
but it's not a choice I have
because it's gone.
For you Lord, anything is possible.
You could have me wake up on a straw pallet
to bells and prime and duties
to cold and hungry and obedient
Latin prayers
hours of copying
and perhaps just the smallest of smiles
if I pass a cup - if it were all I received
for a lifetime - short lifetime - of service
I'd be thankful, I'd rejoice and praise you
To be with them, whose faith I share
my people
to be there where the arches run in rounded rows
and miles in mud and cold are trudged
no horse for me, the little monk
with the smitten heart
I can't stop loving them; loving them I can't stop
wanting to see them, to be with them, to hear them
for our lives to overlap,
contemporary
our worlds and people one
I'd copy many hundreds of thousands of pages
keep my hand steady, my letters even and neat
I'd work so hard and alwayes obey
I'd cry at Mass, just to be there
to be home with the arches painted and candles lit and no benches
no sermons
for us the floor and sore knees
to gaze upon thy body
or to look down at our feet treading the earth
side by side
home
take me there, where I belong, or
Just let me see."
 
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