so i heard/read from somewhere ( i really don't remember where i get these kind of random stuff) that when you die and presumably go to heaven (if you believe that such a place exist) that you won't be reunited with anyone you know in the life you've lived. thus you won't get the chance to be with your family and friends, which in my opinion is the most important part in your life, when you cross-over.
personally i wouldn't want to believe in this concept but... i think it would be better if i did. you see if i did i'd be more conscious of the time i spend with them and as such i would maximize every second that i'm with them. i'd be more appreciative of their efforts to connect with me and be thankful that i have them. wouldn't that be better?
(okay, before i totally fall for this way of thinking and be converted into a tree-animal-people-hugger-save-the-whales-save-the-world person could someone do a little research on this? i'd do the research myself but i wouldn't dare go near anything related to god lest i want to be incinerated. i suggest you start with the bible. keep me posted, yah?)
So maybe you'd be a better person if you didn't believe in heaven? If you did what you can with your life right here right now, instead of waiting for vague promises for the future?
ReplyDeleteWhat a strange idea...
maybe i'd be a better person if i believed that in heaven i won't be with the people who i'm with now. you see i have to believe in heaven first in order for the the idea of not being with my loved ones there to exist. this idea would in turn motivate me to become "better" here.
ReplyDeletestrange and silly... i know. :P
the thing is, non-catholic believers say heaven is not for us, and that is written in the bible.
ReplyDeleteeven so, you're a catholic, right?
yes i'm catholic but only by default.
ReplyDeletei don't get why heaven is not for us?
(please excuse my incapacity to comprehend what you've said. i really can't think when i'm digesting. :P)
Well, some sects like Jehovah's Witness say that Heaven is only for a select few. If you look at Revelations, it's mentioned three times that only 144,000 will be allowed into heaven (7:3-8, 14:1 and 14:3).
ReplyDeleteIf you take these numbers literally (and it seems that a lot of people do) then your only hope is for an "earthly" paradise.
revelations 14:1-3
ReplyDeleteThen I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
???
this passage boggles me...
???
meh if we should take this passage literally.
i think some, but not all, of the things written in the bible are a bit contradictory. (hmmm... maybe things are only contradictory because of the interpretation of what was written?)
The thing about this being with your loved ones kind of heaven is that it all seems a bit arbitrary. I mean, what if person A is part of the "loved ones" group and then he/she didn't quite make it to heaven, will that person get into heaven just to reward you? Or what if person A didn't like you all that much to begin with, it would kind of suck to spend all eternity with someone you didn't really like. Or will there just be some "instance" of person A, tailor made to fit your preferences? Then parang niloloko ka lang.
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty tough defining what heaven should be when none of us know what exactly will make us truly happy for the rest of eternity (unless there's memory wiping and mind control involved)
I personally try not to think of it that much. Why bother worrying about something that, in the end, is still speculation at best. Que sera, sera.
Hmm.. so much for me being a big picture type of guy.
ReplyDeletewell lex i think first the person you like should be also be in heaven and second he/she must like you back in order for the you i-can't-be-with-you-in-heaven concept to hold water. or not hold water. :P
ReplyDeletehmmm... ahh yes, eternal happiness. who wouldn't would want that? but as for me i'd rather focus on my happiness now. eternal is just a minor detail. hehe. :P
heaven is just speculation. just like god is speculation.
ack! that last comment... i take it back. i don't want to be stoned to death... :P
ReplyDeletelol. you took it back coz you don't want to be stoned to death. but the fact still stays... and that is you don't believe in God. you need not bother about eternal life.
ReplyDeleteeh? i may come off quite the opposite, but i do believe that there is a god. i just can't accept all of the permutations of ideas that spin off one's belief in god.
ReplyDeleteYesss, Jam! Join me! Bwahahahaha!
ReplyDelete:flame:
Hey Anon, some of us can be loud and proud about being atheist. ^_^
lolz.
ReplyDeleteas i've said, i believe in god. it's just safer that way. hehe. :P