Heaven.....a literal place thought to exist beyond and transcendent to this realm. Why must it be literal? Perhaps because many feel compelled to envision an ideal society the likes of which will probably never be experienced here. But still, why must it be literal?
If one were to envision this “Great Beyond” as merely metaphoric, might this actually encourage him to “build” heaven here? Or at least try? In this case, why wait for it?
Heaven, in the mind of many, seems to be a place of homogeneity where everybody is worshiping the same God, the same ideals, the same politics, the same this, the same that. This seems very arrogant and boring, in my opinion. I see God as being the totality of every religion, every philosophy, every political viewpoint, every perspective, etc.
Why is it that many think heaven to be a place where everybody bows down to their religion, their philosophy, their politics, their perspective, etc? Probably because it caters to their INDIVIDUAL perspectives*.....this is nothing but EGO.
Might this nicely explain why many seem apt to believe that heaven will be experienced only in the “Great Beyond”, i.e., after we die? In this way, it is never incumbent upon them to exude humility and understanding and admit that they might not have the “absolute” truth of everything or anything for that matter. This humility would likely lead to tolerance of different ideas and create a less hostile world thus potentially leaving the coveted “Great Beyond” within sight. Behold, heaven!
*see link below for corollary
http://kurtsthoughtemporium.blogspot.com/2009/07/shortcoming-of-absolutes.html
If one were to envision this “Great Beyond” as merely metaphoric, might this actually encourage him to “build” heaven here? Or at least try? In this case, why wait for it?
Heaven, in the mind of many, seems to be a place of homogeneity where everybody is worshiping the same God, the same ideals, the same politics, the same this, the same that. This seems very arrogant and boring, in my opinion. I see God as being the totality of every religion, every philosophy, every political viewpoint, every perspective, etc.
Why is it that many think heaven to be a place where everybody bows down to their religion, their philosophy, their politics, their perspective, etc? Probably because it caters to their INDIVIDUAL perspectives*.....this is nothing but EGO.
Might this nicely explain why many seem apt to believe that heaven will be experienced only in the “Great Beyond”, i.e., after we die? In this way, it is never incumbent upon them to exude humility and understanding and admit that they might not have the “absolute” truth of everything or anything for that matter. This humility would likely lead to tolerance of different ideas and create a less hostile world thus potentially leaving the coveted “Great Beyond” within sight. Behold, heaven!
*see link below for corollary
http://kurtsthoughtemporium.blogspot.com/2009/07/shortcoming-of-absolutes.html
No comments:
Post a Comment