Originally published on Facebook HERE
Cold out there today. Ok, so – this is what’s been on my mind a bit this week… Let me preface it a bit by saying it’s just how I look at the matter of heaven and hell. I am not trying to change your opinion at all. I am not trying to say what anyone else believes is in any way inferior to my personal beliefs at all. We are all different. We will have different opinions on this matter. But it’s been on my mind so figured I’d write about it today. First of all, when it comes to heaven and hell I know I have friends who are straight up atheists, that don’t believe in God at all. We die, we’re dead – that’s it. No matter how much you believe in your heart that it won’t be that way, we won’t know for sure until we die. It’s one of the options. But what really intrigues me is the idea that our little, seemingly insignificant lives – in the ridiculously infinitesimal time we have on earth, will somehow determine if we spend the rest of eternity in heaven or hell. Why would God set it up this way?… we are assuming there is a God now, of course… Like – we die, then e get judged? Seriously?… what determines who goes where? I know people who truly believe that you have to accept Jesus as your savior to get into heaven. That’s it?… so, you can be a ruthless cheating bastard but as long as you accept Jesus – you’re in. What about men like Ghandi, then? Sorry, wrong faith – you go to hell. And the mass murderer who “accepts Jesus as his savior” would go to heaven? Nope, nope, nope… my God doesn’t care what religion you are, or even if you’re religious at all. I align myself with the God of love, who isn’t interested in judging anyone. Even if you think heaven and hell for eternity is a reality based on how you live your life on this planet – whether you’re a good person or not – well, what’s the determining factor there, then? Sorry, too many demerits when you were younger – hell for you. For eternity. Hey, we gave you like 80 years – you should have done better. I refuse to believe this. If there is a God, to me – his/her presence would run through everything. Everything. Every human, every animal, every plant and rock and building. And we are given free will to either get to know God, and live from that loving, caring, beautiful space available to us all, or not. We can also decide to live from the anger and hatred that resides within us all as well. This is what heaven and hell is to me – heaven and hell are man made. God lets us choose on this issue while we’re here. We create our own heaven or hell. Then we die and get reunited with our source. Because, the physical part of us, our packaging – will stay here on earth, but can a soul ever be extinguished? And, one step further – we can pretty much all agree that humans have souls, but what about animals? I’m telling ou right now, some of the best souls I’ve ever met are held within animals. Gizmo is a prime example. Loving, loyal, funny, and there’s nothing like the love of a dog when life has beaten you down in some way. They know. And they’ll stay with you as long as they need to. I like to think anything with a soul continues on in some way. I do not think God would set heaven and hell up to be a multiple choice quiz at all. I can’t justify that there would be any God who would base eternity on a life lived on earth in any way. I do think we’re given a choice when it comes to how we live our lives, though. And the choices we make will determine how happy we are. We create our own heaven and/or hell by our actions. Do the right thing. Help whenever possible. Start and end every day with love in your heart. Take care of the incredible packaging you were given. And when it’s all said and done, move forward knowing that whatever comes next – you did the best you could while you were here. I hope you all have a great holiday season this year. I hope you have passion for every moment you get. I hope we all someday learn to live from the space that knows only loving, caring and doing the right thing, always. We have a long ways to go to get there, but all we can do is make sure that is our personal focus, and we can change the world one person at a time. Find heaven within the moments of your day. What a ride.
