Ultimately the mortality rate of humans is 100%. I have yet to hear of anybody living forever, mostly because in the western culture we subscribe to a linear progression of time, and I only experience my spot on the continuum. Nonetheless, we are all living to death. it's the ultimate downfall of the human condition - we're going to die, can you feel it? Can you feel death looming in the background of your life? I can!
Often times I joke about having the feel of dying, "I feel like death," "I think I'm dying," and even, "I'm dying!" Now, to most this is morbid and inappropriate talk for a person in my position: young at 25, just started a decent job, a lot of goals to be met/aspirations to aspire toward, and a long list of other "pro-life" jargon. To all of this I say, "Shut-up!" People don't know me, don't know my story, and don't know what's going on in my soul. Not that I truly know these things either--problem, again with linear time--but if anybody knows my position, it would be be. I know my past and present; I know what my soul has been trhough; and I know what my future might look like!
What's the point? I'm getting there... it takes time to get to the core of things--a process of sorts!
One of the "big debates" in faith communities and such is the afterlife. To answer the question: what happens when we die? Do good people go to heaven and bad to hell? Do you get brought back in different forms until enlightenment? Do you become an angel? Does everybody go to a great hall to feast and wage war against each other? Do we become ghosts and haunt those who did us wrong? Zombies? Worm food? You name it, somebody probably thinks and believes it!
Of course with the knowledge that life comes to an end, people want to know that their life leads to something more. It isn't enough that we get to inhabit the earth for x amount of years, affecting change in either direction, and, in most cases, wasting the x amount of years. We don't ever do anything with our lives, so we have to conjure up extension programs so we get more time to fix it!
I realize that this seems like I am opening up doors for no reason, but I'm getting there--the process! However, this is a lot like what we don in our lives. We open doors with our words, deeds, and thoughts without making anything out of it. We say such things as, "I"m going to do that, this, some other thing, all before I die!" or even, "I was going to do it, but there is always tomorrow!" Until of course we're all dead and there is no longer a hope for a tomorrow--we've reached the end!
I am just as guilty as everybody else on this; I mean I have been talking about doing things for years, but I am still waiting for tomorrow. It's like I am just resting on my morals to qualify for an extension plan, which may not even happen!
Nowhere in the Bible, the holy one, does it say that we are supposed/granted permission to wait for tomorrow. It's all present tense: do this, do that, do this other thing. it's active language: GO, DO IT... NOW! It is ushering in the new kingdom int he present age. Heaven doesn't come down to offer a life extension, it gets here by people doing their kingdom work today.
Just like int he parable of the sheep and goats; the sheep assisted in the ushering of the kingdom int he present age and were rewarded for it; the goats missed their opportunities and were rewarded accordingly. yes, the language used would imply that the reward was that of an eternal type, but there is a context for that. Everything was given in code in awesome scale! In order to rise above empires and fight principalities of evil, you need a bigger ruler to measure up to: a bigger god, bigger punishment, bigger reward and so that's what they created!
Now, I am not trying to slander the faith tradition that has paved the way for me and lots of people like me. On the contrary, I am attempting to slander those whom talk without knowing (much like I do all the time!)
Nonetheless, when i was on vacation I had an interesting conversation with The Robo Preacher about death, dying and the afterlife. He posited that there was NO AFTERLIFE! That when we died, it was like falling asleep--no awareness of the passage of time, except we never wake up! If I remember correctly, which is about an 85% certainty, the biblical Jewish tradition had no concept of Heaven or Hell. I've never studied Hebrew, so I can't attest to this in either direction. However, the conversation didn't end there. I brought up the gated community of Heaven that can be found in Rob Bell's Love Wins, to which Pastor Ryan (aka The Robo Preacher), informed me that C.S. Lewis writes (I Think it was C.S. Lewis anyway), that Hell is present int he unhealed wounds of the risen Jesus. He may have conquered death and the devil, but there is still room for the fallen creation to improve or slide back into despair if that's what needs to happen. There is an ebb and flow between Heaven and Hell, but it is all held within the same scope of God. Everything is held within the kingdom of God!
Although, as you can imagine, a lot of effort goes into convincing--or at least trying to--people that if they don't believe the right hings, or specifically have a "personal relationship with Jesus," they're going to hell! This is all well and good if that's your thing, but scaring people into a relationship is not setting them up for success. Scaring people out of hell is stupid! There, I said it!
I was at a "Christian Music Festival" with out of my friends (now girlfriend/again), and all I heard, over and over again, was the following speech--more or less:
I love Jesus. I have a personal relationship with my lord and savior who happens to go by the name Jesus (not a Mexican national!), who, by his grace, grants me eternal life in heaven. If you don't know Jesus, living in sin you will be sentenced to eternity in hell. Torture, damnation, fire and brimstone are going to be your best friend. There's still hope for you... if you want to start a relationship with Jesus come talk to us after our set and will show you Jesus (again, not a Mexican national)!
After about 2-3 hours of the same speech, my soul started screaming! I'm not sure, even to this day, if it was a spiritual soul scream or a logical soul scream, but it stirred up the thought that, "I'm not sure I believe in hell!" It just doesn't make sense that God is love, but is so selfish that there has to be a public proclamation that counters that ideology. If God is love, there shouldn't be room for hell, damnation, fire and brimstone, torture, and all of the things attributed to hell.
God can "create" everything, but is not able to make room or work on people in a way to give them a ticket to heaven? That's pretty messed up in my mind. "Nobody but the father knows the time or place," so how can we know what comes next? We can't! It's all guess work, and chances are we're all wrong! Thus, go with God and know we are supposed to be loved!
Now, I realize that there was no logical conclusion to this rant! I apologize for this, only half-heartedly! This was a stream of consciousness writing, and there may be more to come. Especially since I found a book about this very subject after finishing up my fresh scrawl across my notepad. I have only read the introduction, chapter 1 and chapter 2, but it seemingly is going to be a good one. I'll let you know... but if you want to check it out yourself: The Modern Book of the Dead: A Revolutionary Perspective on Death, the Soul, and What Really Happens in the Life to Come by Ptolemy Tompkins.
Nonetheless, remember, nobody really knows what comes after death, because they aren't talking. So, it's either really awesome and they want to keep it a surprise, or it really sucks and they would rather us not waste our life worrying about it. So, let us make a solemn promise to each other to live the remainder of our lives like we're dying--because we are! We get one shot to make a difference in this world (at least for this spec of time). Maybe we've had plenty of shots and we get more after each turn, I don't know, but I'm beginning to think that it might not be worth risking it!
Go with God and know that you are loved!
-Andy J. Graves
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