Living Forever

Today the message at church was about heaven and what the Bible says about it.  The only thing I really know about heaven is that whatever it’s going to be like, I’ll be there to say, “I was made for a place like this!”  Although we do experience moments of great satisfaction in doing various things, I don’t believe we ever really get that feeling of 100% fulfillment  no matter what we do here on earth.  We live in a fallen world, where nothing can be perfect until Jesus returns and sets everything back to the way it was meant to be. That includes people, animals, plants,  mountains, oceans, colors, tastes, touch, sound, activities… EVERYTHING. I can only imagine. ;)

The other day I was listening to an interview on CBC Radio. Someone had written a book about achieving immortality here on earth—how one day it will be possible, because of scientific progress. The discussion then led to the question , “If you could live forever (on earth), by taking a pill that would stop the aging process, what age would you choose to be?”  Now that would be a tough decision because I think there is beauty to appreciate in every stage of life. It would be just wrong to stop at one of them and stay there—there’d be so much that would be missed out on.

I think the reason people want to achieve immortality is related to what was mentioned this morning: eternity is written on our hearts. We can’t help but hope and desire for more than what this life on earth offers us. It’s just the way all of us are made. Also, nobody really wants to die. It’s  something we don’t talk a lot about. Even after someone dies, we hardly mention the D word at all. Euphemisms such as ‘passed away’, ‘gone to a better place’, ‘kicked the bucket’ ‘gave up the ghost’… are much more common. For those who fear death, achieving immortality means death has been overcome and the fearful questions surrounding it are no longer important. Somehow, achieving immortality puts us in control of our destiny. 

I do wonder why anyone would want to live on earth forever, given the way things are? Give me heaven, thanks very much.