The other day my mother and I were talking about heaven. In cartoons people in heaven are angels who sit on clouds playing harps all day. How boring for us who are used to TV, iPads, Kindles and the like! So what is heaven really like? According to Jesus, it has many mansions. He could have been speaking figuratively. St. Paul, who supposedly had a vision of heaven, was left speechless. All he could write about it was “Eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it ever entered the mind of man what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)
Some people who claim they had an experience of heaven report that there was nothing but bright light and they felt like they were totally enveloped by love. They didn’t want to leave. This makes sense because heaven is being with God, and God is love. The happiness we all yearn for is to be loved completely and forever. In a “Family Circus” cartoon little Jeff aptly describes heaven as “one long hug.”
Each day brings us closer to having the mystery of heaven solved. It’s said that as we wait for this revelation, we have glimpses of heaven on earth at times when we experience great joy. (Likewise, we sometimes have glimpses of hell.) We can imagine how wonderful it will be to live without fear, without sorrow, without hate, without tragedies.
The mystic, Juliana of Norwich, said that God revealed to her that at the end of time “all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” In the meantime, we ponder questions like What will my glorified body be like in heaven? What age will I be? Who will be with me? Will my beloved pet be there?
Jesus and his mother are in heaven with their glorified bodies. At last we will know what they look like! Who else do you look forward to meeting in heaven?
3 Responses
I loved it. Remind me of the book “Heaven is for Real,” which is a true story of a little boy. There was an article about try-outs in Cleveland for the boy. I love the statement heaven is “one big long hug!”
I long to meet with all my family i’ve lost along the way. But specially and foremost my beloved husband! I miss him so much. I at times ask myself the same question wondering what he is up to up in Heaven. Being only 31 yrs old he still had a whole life ahead of him which he had so many plans and dreams. When he was here with us he was one man that could not sit for a minute, he had to be out and about doing something. Wether it was yard work, fishing with our girls, or simply going for a drive out to the country. So it makes me wonder how he is keeping all them angels busy up in heaven…Can’t wait to see him again one day.
I’m sure he can hardly wait to see his beloved wife face to face once again. One of our great joys in heaven will be being reunited with all our loved ones.