What Heaven and Hell Will Not Be (Yeah, awkward wording)

I am a BIG fan of The Who.  The original bunch.  You know....Pete, Roger, John, and Keith.  Well maybe you don't know.  Use the internet (reference the song The Relay).  I digress.  I have a particular affinity for John Entwistle because I love his lyrics, he was the greatest bass player ever, and the connection for the word affinity is that I am the world's worst bass player.  Now how does this all lead to Misconceptions of Heaven and Hell.  It just so happens John wrote a song about both places.

On top of the sky
Is a place where you go
If you've done, nothing wrong
If you've done nothing wrong

And down in the ground
Is a place where you go
If you've been a bad boy
If you've been a bad boy

Why can't we have eternal life
And never die?
Never die

In the place up above
You grow feather wings and you fly
'Round and 'round
With a harp singing hymns

And down in the ground
You grow horns and a tail
And you carry a fork
And moan and wail

Why can't we have eternal life
And never die?
Never die

                   John Entwistle - Heaven and Hell

 

Well, there you have it.  As I talk to people, even church people, this is pretty much their conception of both places.  Now I'm not intending to tell you what heaven and hell will be.  I just want to point out that they will not be the cartoon version you find in John's song or in any other form of art that conveys the same message.  Here's what I'm encouraging you to do.  Read.  Read what?  The Bible is always a good place to start, and there are other sources that discuss what heaven and hell may or may not be.  I'm currently working through N.T Wright's book Surprised by Hope, and there are so many others written on the subject.  Will you find it confusing?  Probably.  Will you find it helpful?  Certainly.  Will you come to any conclusions?  Maybe.  Most importantly you will find it fulfilling to discover, that regardless of the theology, heaven will be more than just flying around forever singing hymns you no longer want to sing.  

 

God has great things in store for us.  Go, read, think, pray.  Talk amongst yourselves!!!

 

Fosh

Real Life Of A Single Mom

 The following is written by my Facebook friend Kim Holland.

This is a copy and paste of a Facebook status by her, and used with her permission.

Grammar Nazis be kind.  She was posting not blogging!!

Being a single mother is truly the hardest task I have ever had to manage...my days start at 5:45am (ok, 6am, cuz I like to snooze!), I get up let the dog out & feed him, make myself some coffee and enjoy a few minutes of quiet by myself; then I shower & get ready for work. At 7:30am, I get my 3 kids up for school, finish getting myself ready, holler for them to get out of bed multiple times...make sure hair is brushed, snacks are in backpacks and teeth are brushed...I stopped worrying if clothes match a long time ago, lol. We leave the house around 7:50-8:00am & I drop them off at school, then I head to my job & work for the next 8 hours. If I am able to leave work by 5pm, the drive to pick-up kids is only about 15-20 minutes, however, if I leave at 5:15pm, the drive is 40 minutes (UGH!). SO, I pick-up the kids, head home & start making dinner; go through backpacks while cooking & get them started on homework. Sometimes I can throw in a load of laundry too. Finish cooking, serve dinner, eat, clean-up; finish any remaining homework and then start bath time. Do kids bath time, make sure teeth are brushed, get clothes out for tomorrow, let kids play for a minute, run dishwasher, switch laundry over from washer to dryer & usually start another load...tonight was really special, because I had to mow my front & back yard too and water! So we didn't sit down to do our 20 minutes of daily reading until 8:30pm. Typically try to get kids to bed by 8:30-9:00pm; switch laundry again, fold the dry laundry, put some away and now sitting down to read email & pay bills. So after a 15 hour day of go, go, go...I might actually get to sit down and watch a little TV, if I don't pass out. What's my point, you ask? I have several....1) for those of you that don't have kids (or custody of), enjoy your free time & have a little compassion when those of us that DO are a little crazy 2) this is a SHOUT OUT to all the single parents (moms & dads) who go through this EVERY DAY and manage to keep a smile on their faces 3) I wouldn't change this for anything in the world, although I am exhausted and sometimes crabby, there is nothing greater than, like tonight, doing homework w/my kids and realizing that the twins are READERS now!! The greatest gift was seeing their faces light-up and asking me, over & over, if they could read to me. I am one proud mama!!

My Friend Doesn't Believe in the Christian god.

"If you have an opinion, and somebody disagrees, let them. Just make it known what you think about the issue, listen to them closely, and then love and care about them regardless. If they keep trying to change your mind, gently explain to them that you simply don’t agree, but you don’t want it to interrupt your friendship. If people can only be friends with others who think the way they think, this is a weakness in character." Donald Miller

No sooner had  I posted this than my friend Jan (her name has been changed to protect the....you get my drift) sent me an inbox with a great link to a TED talk about compassion.  I've known her for probably a year and half, and you see Jan "doesn't believe in the Christian god", but she is my friend.  Some might ask how this is possible since she doesn't  believe in my core belief.  I don't know how to explain this dynamic, but I do know it works for both of us.  We've had several discussions about church, God (or god as she would put it), religion, spirituality, family, guys, girls and it's usually most enlightening for both of us.  You see we don't have the same ideas on most of those subjects, but we're both open to listen and learn what the other thinks.  

Tonight, in a Facebook chat, I said to her, "I always hesitate to ask people to label themselves but I think you know me well enough I'm just searching for context in your thoughts, where in the spectrum of Christian all the way over to Atheist do you put yourself, or do you even fit there?'  I love the thoughtfulness and honesty in her reply. "That's an interesting spectrum. Because being a so called Christian doesn't make you opposite of atheist. I've looked into a lot of religious beliefs and I can appreciate different things and take what I like from it. I don't believe in the Christian god. I don't even like the Christian god very much. But I believe in the universe as best I can call it. Some guiding force of life. It's kind of like the concept of Taoism in some ways."  These are core places we are discussing, and it could be uneasy and difficult because these are certainly not my beliefs, but in reality it is very easy conversation, because we accept each other right where we are.  

She went on to say "I am spiritual person not a religious person. I don't worship anything except I like to gain wisdom through other people and decide what I think is right. So I don't go to church but I watch TED talks and maybe some Oprah. Because I think it's more important to be the best version of myself possible to make the world better. And I think we don't need a bible or our parents to give us purpose. How can you lack purpose when there is so much that can be done all around us. If you can get past materialism and selfishness to a point you'll understand there's so much purpose in the world. I have a relationship with the universe. I think it speaks to me in its own language."  Even for me as a believer in the Christian God I find kernels of truth in this.  

I could react like I would have in my earlier years and sent back some reactionary words.  Instead we had the following exchange. I said, "Thank you for sharing that with me. As we say around here 'that'll give me something to chew on for awhile'. I love your honesty and the fact that you THINK."  Her reply sent shivers up my spine. "I like that you think. Which is why I like sharing these things with you. You're the only Christian I know that doesn't make me want to bash religion."  How sad that her exposure to Christians has caused her to believe we don't think, and cause her to want to bash religion. I can't say that I fault her in this.  I remember how vehemently I would have opposed these words in the past, and Jan wouldn't have had a conversation like this with that version of Jamey.

To be honest, I want to bash religion, and focus on relationship.  Relationships with people, and my relationship with God.  A final comment she made helps wrap this up quite nicely.  "I like that you're trying to bridge a gap here."  Amazing words.  Isn't that what Jesus is all about.  Bridging the gap between God and Man.  Jan and I are bridging the gap between people.  A gap that for some would seem insurmountable, but because we both care about "relationship" we are friends.  Do we agree? No. Will we ever?  On some things absolutely, on others time will answer that question.  I do know that we connect and because of that we will both change because of the exchange of ideas.  Hopefully both of us for the better.  

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 The quotes from Jan are a small part of our conversation and do not convey the totality of her beliefs.  The quotes work contextually to convey the conversation, and she has graciously allowed me to use her words for this blog.