Thoughts on Eternity

I've been reading Rob Bell's new book, entitled "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived." It's a book which attempts to ask one of the biggest questions of humanity: who goes to heaven, who goes to hell, and why? I'm reading this book because Bell stirred up quite the controversy by basically arguing that everyone goes to heaven, but that heaven can seem like hell to those who don't like the way heaven operates. For those of you who know me, I can't pass up a good controversy, and so I had to delve into Bell's work. But there's a second layer: I love debating, theorizing on, and meditating on eternity. And so, with that in mind, here are some preliminary thoughts on the subject.


"Everyday things change, basically they stay the same." ~ Dave Matthews Band

Just in case you missed the rapture, it happened on May 21st, 2011. Or now I hear it's supposed to be in October. People are always fascinated with the end of times, and this fascination has enabled people to join cults, give their money away, and convince themselves that they know when the end is coming. At the core, Bells book is about explaining what will happen, not when, but it's the same basic concept: where are we going? Think about how much differently you'd live your life if you knew for certain what would happen after you've passed on. If you knew that there was an eternity, and that to get to it you had to do A, B, and C ... well, I'd bet that you change up a few things. If you knew that after this life there was nothing, then you'd probably go in a different direction. You're only human, and when we know something is going to happen we have a tendency to behave very differently than we do when we suspect that something is going to happen.

Case in point: what if I told you that there were going to be police officers looking for people speeding randomly all along the interstate highway you were going to be on. I'd guess you'd probably stick pretty closely to the speed limit, if not a tad bit under it. Conversely, if I told you that there were no police officers at all on the highway you'd probably speed to the limit of your comfort: 15, 20, 30 miles over the speed limit. But when you take to the road you don't really know if there will be officers or not. As such, you typically set the cruise at whatever speed you're willing to risk (for me it's about 5MPH over the speed limit), and you go along your merry way.

Most human's deal with the question of eternity in much the same way. We know what we believe, and we set our cruise at whatever speed we're willing to risk. I don't know a person who lives a totally devote life, and I know many who live far less than a devote life. Myself included. But we all have limits we push, and above which we feel like we are running to much of a risk. It's calculated, and it's not what we are "supposed to do." That's why Bell attempts to answer this greatest of all questions in the way he does. In part.

Another part of this question is the feeling a Christian gets when we think of a really great friend, lover, or family member who is not Christian, but is probably a better person than we are. Are they going to hell? If so, why would we want to go to heaven? Bell's answer brings you comfort, if you believe him, because it says that those people will be there too, simply because God is that great. The atheists, the agnostics, the Muslims, the Jews, the Buddhists ... everyone. This isn't that far from an argument I've articulated through the years: namely, that God is great enough that he can take different routes (faiths, etc) to reach a variety of people. He created us to be individuals, and to find our way to him in our individual ways.

At the end of the day, I'm not sure what comes after death. None of us are. Not even Rob Bell. But we all have our theories. The issue with Bell's book is that he presents opinion as fact. I present my opinion as opinion. He's far more educated than I'll ever be on theological issues, but I think he crossed a line that is tough to step over. The afterlife, and the eternity that does or does not come with it, is a touchy subject. Everyone has a deep seated belief inside of them, and when you challenge those beliefs you are stepping into dangerous territory. That's where Bell strode.

As far as death, I've been thinking about it quite a bit more recently as I've been in a class about dealing with it. I was asked to answer a number of questions about my beliefs and experiences on death, and then I was asked to reflect on it. Here's what I came up with:

"I find death to be the greatest question in life, and as such these questions tend to make me think big picture. I’ve always been a person who finds comfort in the enormity of existence. I think of the universe, expansive as it is, and remind myself that if all life were wiped off the Earth tomorrow it wouldn’t matter in the grand scheme. But I also think of the purpose of mankind, and of the greater goal which I believe we are all striving towards. Carl Sagan once spoke about Earth as a pale blue dot, basing this statement on the most long distance shot of Earth ever taken, by the Voyager spacecraft as it looked back on the solar system for the last time. Sagan mused that all of human history, all the joy, the life, and the death took place on that tiny grain of sand in the infinite abyss that is the universe. Sagan’s point was that we should cherish this life, and be humbled by the scope of existence. Similarly, the husband and wife philosopher team of William and Ariel Durant wrote about the purpose of life in the epilogue to their eleven volume work “The Story of Civilization,” which was aptly entitled “The Lessons of History.” Talking of progress, the duo stated that if religion was removed from the equation, the undeniable purpose of life was to learn as much as you could, building on the knowledge and work of those who came before you, so that the next generation could build on your history to move forward. In answering the self inventories for this class these perspectives came to mind, because death is an uncomfortable subject, even for those who embrace its’ approach."

In the end, none of us know what to expect. That's part of the mystery of life, and it's why we are best served by cherishing each moment and moving through life as if each moment is our last.