“Heaven” by Randy Alcorn is a thought provoking book that challenges the reader to imagine what heaven means, what heaven is like. I’m just starting the book, but Alcorn’s emphasis, so far, is on describing heaven as a specific physical place. That makes me feel uneasy. The key question, I believe, is not what heaven will be like, but what we will be like in heaven.
Heaven is all about joy. When we experience joy in this present life — heaven on earth — we experience something beyond our selves. Heaven is when we not only feel compassion, but when for a moment we are compassion, when we not only feel love, we are love. Heaven is the moment when the mind that was in Christ Jesus is also our mind, when the heart of Christ is also our heart. In heaven, we will be the beings we were created to be, our true selves, sons and daughters of God.
Grieving over the tragic death of his four year old son, Eric Clapton composed his beautiful song “Tears in Heaven.” He wrote: “Beyond the door there’s peace I’m sure, And I know there’ll be no more tears in heaven.”
And he asked a good question:
Would you know my name
If I saw you in heaven?
Would it be the same
If I saw you in heaven?
If we transcend our tiny egos to become as Christ — if we are love, if we are compassion — will we be recognizable in heaven? The question to ponder, I think, is not what heaven will be like, but what is our highest selves? What we will be like in heaven?
