Heaven…

Today, in Church, my Bible Fellowship teacher started talking about Heaven and everyone’s differing perspectives on how it will be- “one fine day, when this life is over.” Some say that they can wait till Heaven, because they don’t want to be bored strumming harps and singing all day and all night. Some say that they don’t want to go to Heaven because they won’t be able to see their loved ones or that they will be unrecognizable. I personally do not know what Heaven will be like, but I do know that I will see my Saviour’s face and be able to glorify my God to my utmost. My favorite passages on Heaven come from my favorite author, C.S. Lewis, one is found in The Last Battle and the other is an entire book, The Great Divorce. I will begin with the latter. The Great Divorce begins with a man in a grey town in line to get on the bus. What one finds later is that this is no ordinary bus, this is the bus from “the grey town” or Hell to what is, not explicitly, called Heaven. In this new place, the ground is painful to the shadowy figures from the ‘town’ and a mere leaf is impossible to pick up from the ground. Shining beings come to speak with the ghosts, most of whom refuse to listen to reason. They, like most Hell-bound people, long for the selfish ‘comforts’ that mean nothing, but offer no accountability. These people do not want accountability or any being to have power over them. They are fearful of what could result if they look beyond themselves. The shining people from Heaven are beauty in themselves, they have a supranatural existence that can only come from having been in the presence of God. They are beyond comprehension and are completely unselfish. Their only wish is to make the ghosts see reason, although most refuse. Lewis is careful to point out, in the preface, that this is not necessarily what he believes Heaven will be like, and does not wish to lead anyone astray, but I find that The Great Divorce is a wonderful study in the psychology of Heaven- and Hell-bound people. I highly recommend reading it, especially if you need a ‘good think.’
The other aforementioned passage is one of my personal favorites, and while not as thought-provoking on an intellectual level, is extremely vivid and beautiful. You can only get the full impact of the quote by reading the Chronicles of Narnia, but the passage is still beautiful and inspiring. The narrator is taling about the first glimpse and understanding of the “new Narnia,” where the Pevensies and all of the other Narnian friends have gone at the end of the world, which, by the way, is another beautiul passage. But, alas, with no further ado,

“Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away amoung the mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the glass there may have been a looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different – deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know. THe difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked like it meant more. I can’t describe it any better than that: if you ever get there you will know what I mean. It was the unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried: “I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia so much is because it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!”(ch. 15)

Lewis has such an amazing way with words and descriptions that, while they may not be factual, still are thought provoking and make one wonder and impress upon one’s senses the impact and glory of what he is describing. Heaven is a mystery to me, I need to study more about it and go to The Word.

Alas, that is all for tonight!

Thoughtfully,

M