Asking Questions and Speculations About Heaven

I know some people aren't comfortable with speculating concerning religion, heaven, God, etc. (I'm thinking about some particular people at my church:), but I read C.S. Lewis as I grew up and probably 70% of his theological works are speculations based on logic and ponderings, struggles and faith. I grew up loving the Psalms, where questions abound and Psalmists aren't even opposed to yelling at God and they yell some pretty strong things, but you know what? God preserved those questions for us.

In things relating to salvation, yeah, it's dangerous territory to start speculating but in terms of relating to God, I honestly think, more than anything, he is amused by our speculations of him as a Father or Mother would be assumed at the speculations of their young children. I think if he didn't want us to ponder him and who he is, he would have only given us the Word and not also revealed so much of himself in the world around us and through our interactions with other human beings.

In terms of what heaven will be like, in the end I don't think it really matters, we will all be wrong, because what awaits us is beyond imagining, is beyond our comprehension. I take the Bible's physical descriptions of heaven "with a grain of salt" because, personally, I don't think jewels are very pretty and I am not impressed by gold. I think what was trying to be conveyed is that it is a place of beauty beyond compare, where there is no want or squalor...and so much more.

With that preface, on to more speculating.

I have often heard people say, "When I get to heaven I'm going to ask...," but it seems like the persons intent is to ask it right then, right when they get through the gate or even when they're standing in line at the door. If you read the Psalms, you God is comfortable with questions, he doesn't always answer them, but David asked a lot and he was called a man after God's own heart.

We are going to be an eternity in heaven, a "time" so long that it ceases to be measured. I think there will be time enough for every question and that we will hear every other persons questions and that we will be encouraged to ask more questions and have innumerable questions answered without even asking. Why? Because through our questions we will understand God more fully, through others questions we will understand him even more fully, and to understand God more fully is to better be able to praise him, because we will better understand why he is to be praised. I think heaven is partly going to be a show and tell of how God worked in your life (what you understand of his work before your questions and even more after your questions have been answered).

I think one of the experiences of heaven is going to be looking back at our life through the eyes, maybe not of God (because even our "indestructible" souls would probably explode or something), but through the eyes of heaven. I think we will see how everything effected everything and everyone else, how everything was connected together. I think at first we will be consumed with an almost overwhelming sadness, for we will see all the opportunities lost, all the good deeds prepared for us that were left undone. Now, before you tell me, "There's no tears in heaven," let me finish. I think we will then be be shown the picture more fully, that things will be pointed out that we didn't notice at first glace. I think we will be shown how God "has caused all things to work for the good of those who love him," how God managed to take our feeble attempts when we tried our best and caused everything to work out beautifully, to realize he made our individual imperfections into a whole that is perfection.

So keep on saving up your questions and, when we get there, don't be scared to ask...but maybe wait awhile, merely gazing at the face of God will probably answer thousands of questions we never knew to ask.

Also, try to look at your life and the lives of those around you through the eyes of heaven. Try to think, "How is God going to use that in the picture?" "How is God going to use that aspect of that persons life for the ultimate good?"

Maybe sometime soon I'll make everyone nervous by devoting a post to trying to describe God, but I think this is enough speculating for now. :)

P.S. I think if I do have a "crown" it's going to be made of something living with leaves and flowers incorporated in...and maybe have a hummingbird nest on it as well. Whatever it is, it will match me better than I could ever match it myself and yours will match you.

An Explanation for Soulmates, Kindred Spirits, and Opposites Attracting

God is the totality of goodness, a more complete person than any human could ever be, encompassing all (good) aspects of what makes up personalities. What if our soulmate, our kindred spirit are those whose souls contain the same echoes of God, those same aspects of God that he instilled in our own soul? Our soul sees the same reflection of God in another as we see in ourselves and delights in the familiarity, bonds together because they are made of the same stuff. What if the reason why opposites sometimes attract is because we recognize those aspects of God in another that we are lacking in ourselves and we are seeking a complement, so that by joining our souls we can be made more whole, more fully understand the God we seek to know?

This can be a good thing. In soulmates and kindred spirits we find an understanding heart, someone we can relate to close to perfectly, who views the world as we do, and looks towards heaven with similar eyes. With our opposites we can learn more about the world, we can become more intimate with aspects of God with which we are very unfamiliar, our souls can become more rounded.

It can also be a bad thing.

Without God or with minds shut to his guidance, kindred spirits can unite with ours and determine that the rest of the world is weird or strange, we can convince each other God is just so and nothing else, we can focus together on some aspects of God and not realize there are others that we are completely ignoring.

Without God, when opposites attract, it may be that we are seeking to make ourselves more whole, more rounded, to fill a hole that we cannot fill because it is different and other than our self. But though with God this person can help make us more whole, can help to round us, can help to fill the hole inside us that we do not fully understand; without Him the pieces just won't fit, they may eventually jar and clash together because we each cannot understand why we're both still so incomplete.

Maybe “soulmate” should not only pertain to the kindred spirit types, maybe a mated soul can be an opposite. Kindred souls you can lay one on top of another and they will match, they're hard to distinguish as more than one soul so, in that sense, they are one. Opposite souls you put side by side and they help to fill in each others gaps, you look at them and see a completeness, in that sense, the two make up a one. As a lover, a spouse, I think there would be advantages and disadvantages to both, each would help you grow in different ways, each would challenge you in different ways.

In friendship, I think it is important to have both types, those you can comfortably blend with and those who help to fill in your gaps.

P.S. I know people are never fully kindred spirits or fully opposite spirits, no matter what there will always be little parts that do not match up...with whatever type you are matching.