Heaven Would Be A Lot Better Than This Earth?

Sherpa Don shares his thoughts on the ending of this world:

“I was hoping for it because I think heaven would be a lot better than this Earth,” said Mr Bauer, a tractor-trailer driver, who took the week off work for the voyage.

I woke up this morning to my usual schedule before work: saying This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad, as I start up the coffee pot; find out what flavor toaster pastry I want to eat today; and opened up the computer to read the news. The first article I read was BBC's ‘Rapture’ Believers Perplexed After Prediction Fails, and the first thing that caught my eye was Mr. Bauer's quotation.

At first, I felt startled, and a bit confused, as I repeated his words and brushed my teeth at the same time—which, much to my chagrin, left my mouth and chin rather rabid-dog-looking. It was enough confusion that I halted my usual morning plans, deftly stole the stole of spiritual guidance from the Well-Travelled Guru, put it on, and thought about what I thought needed to be said about those words.

Mr. Bauer's attitude is an interesting one, because it is a statement that came from an ordinary man; but it's also a statement that, I feel, is said by so many in our current world: “My world, my reality, is terrible; and I wish something—anything—would happen to end it, because this world will always be broken, and there's nothing that I can do to get out.”

I can only imagine the disappointment of all the people who felt the world was ending; and to all who were hoping for some change—any change—to a world that never seems to change I give my deepest, most sincere sympathies.

But, my mind goes back to one of my particularly favorite ladies of philosophy:

I will say that never before has the world been clamoring so desperately for answers to crucial problems—and never before has the world been so frantically committed to the belief that no answers are possible.

My friends, what I want to ask is, “Is the world as terrible and broken as you think it is?” Yes, reading current events nowadays has the potential of paralyzing the soul because of all the disasters that happen all around us. Yes, sometimes more bad things happen than the good things. Yes, sometimes I spend too much time in my pajamas writing instead of going to work. But is reality so terrible, and life so broken, that you choose to drown it in whiskey, to smother it in ice cream and Titanic (my own personal vice on bad days), and to scream to the heavens and to the LORD himself your request for the world to end? Frankly, the only time I'd scream the latter is if I wake up wearing a toga, equipped with wings and a halo, and realize at that moment that the rest of my life is spent on a cloud.

Life is too precious, and too big, to drown in whiskey, or ice cream, or screams for death, or any other vices or obsessions one might use to escape from reality. Despite its hardships, life is too wonderful to keep one's eyes closed to all it's splendor and terror. And, despite our naturally-fallible and naturally-imperfect faculties of cognition, life is too valuable to say, “It can't be helped,” or “There's nothing I can do,” or ”What's the point?” or ”What if I try to live life, and try to show others that life is good, but nothing comes of it?” , then do nothing about the terrors that we all see.

If one concentrates on Heaven, one forgets that the LORD made life here on earth, and said that it was good. If one concentrates on escaping the world, one forgets that this world is real. My life is precious, your life is precious, the lives of all that are suffering in today's world are precious. Instead of proclaiming the end of the world, and shouting it can't be helped; perhaps, today, everyone should meditate over these words, “You are loved, and [equally as you] so are they.” Ponder what that means, and reconsider, for a moment, what life would be like if we all stood up and acted in the love we have for ourselves and for others.

The message that “We are all (and I mean everyone in the world) the LORD's children” in the world he made and declared good is a far more comforting and hopeful message than the world's destruction, eh? Let's remember, today, what that means to be the child of the LORD, and what dignity, respect, and love the LORD equally has for all of us. Think about the gifts of cognition, of volition, of thinking we all have, and think about the unique talents and abilities we all have, and ask yourself “What can I do for the LORD's creation?”

After that thinking, go sit down somewhere, watch the sunset, and ask again, “Is heaven really that much better?” I hope your answer will be, “No. This world is worth trying to save.”