Let’s play a game today. I want you to mentally picture the following concept. Just let your mind take you to this place and see it without thinking about it too much. Ready?
Okay, the word is heaven. So what popped into your head? Streets of gold? Rivers of milk and honey? Covered dishes filled with unlimited macaroni and cheese?
This is a subject most of us have thought of since we were small and in Sunday school. This area is mainly Protestant, so we all share the same archetype of the “good place.”
So where did the concept of heaven originate? Jewish teaching holds that there are three heavens. One heaven of air, a starry firmament and the palace of Jehovah.
It was also used in the Old Testament to denote a great height. Other beliefs also include the idea of heaven. Good Zoroastrians were met by a beautiful woman, who led them to heaven. Theirs was a light, airy and cheerful place, probably full of fruit. Don’t forget that Zoroastrianism was heavily influential upon Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
In some kind of an arms race of eternity, the numbers increase.
The Polemic system had five heavens. Islam has seven heavens. Also in ancient times, man saw nine heavens or spheres in the night sky. Hinduism has as many heavens as they have gods. So they have numerical superiority.
Science had not yet progressed to help humankind understand the universe, so it was only natural for humans to ponder what occurred “out there.”
The gods must reside up there in the expanse of the night sky. Maybe we will go there, too, after this life.
Thank goodness for science. We now actually know that after this life, good souls go to Las Vegas and bad ones to Detroit.
It is obvious that heaven has been pondered for many years. So what can we do?
I propose we start a new religion where heaven is what you want it to be when you die. Just be careful what you ask for, though. An eternity of anything will drive you crazy, just like it did the gods.
Sex, drugs and rock and roll? I agree, sounds good on the surface. Even if you bring the entire works of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, U2, Metallica, etc., you have only killed off a few years of listening enjoyment.
Drugs were good to take you away from reality, but now you make your own state of affairs, so that makes it a kind of Matrix mind warp.
There is always sex. Even if you are in the land of milk and honey, this too will also come and go as entertaining.
So now that you are depressed about eternity, consider the alternatives. Space is infinite and vast as far as we know. So why not ask WWJD?
That’s right, what would Jim, as in Captain James T. Kirk, do? He would explore strange new worlds, seek out new life, new civilizations and boldly go where no man has gone before.
So heaven for me, my friends, shall be a starship. She will have warp drive, unlimited fuel and an eternity to explore the heavens. I will call my ship the Enterprise for sentimental reasons. Action, adventure and planets of three-breasted, spandex-wearing women with no standards await me in the afterlife.
So my eternity will never be dull or boring or spent. Just call me the captain of my destiny.
So what will you do with your heaven?
Sit down with some friends or lovers and create your own heaven. What do you want to do for eternity? I think the heaven we would create is a reflection of that which we are as individuals. So in making a heaven, you may learn something about yourself.
Or maybe not, but it can be one heck of a fun drinking game. So get busy and play God. The eternal life you save may be your own.

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