Where is heaven?

The idea that heaven is "up there" somewhere waiting to be populated by deceased humans is becoming more and more difficult for Christians today to embrace. Given our knowledge that we are living in an expanding universe the notion of heaven as a specific location is becoming too much of a challenge for Christians to uncritically accept as truth. What follows is a brief meditation [edited] written by my friend Pastor Leon Bloder. Leon offers one of the best explanation of where heaven might be that I have thus far encountered. I thought it would be nice to share this little gem with you.

"God Isn't Somewhere Else"

"He who longs the most lives the longest." - Khalil Gibran

One of my favorite television shows of all time was the short-lived science-fiction series Fringe, which ran for five seasons and 100 episodes.

The plot centered around the conflict created by an opening to another dimension that revealed a parallel universe and alternate realities.

After watching Fringe for a while, I got to thinking about dimensions, realities, heaven, and God--because that's naturally what you do when you're a pastor and you watch shows like Fringe.  Sue me, I'm weird.

At any rate, after a lot of reading studying and pondering I came to believe that, since the idea of a heaven somewhere "up above" just doesn't make any sense, the idea of realities on the other side of our reality is the best way to think about such things.

In other words, "where God is," most likely is just on the other side of what I can perceive--right here, right now.  So God isn't somewhere else, God is right here (everywhere, in fact) on the other side of what I can see and experience with my limited abilities.

C.S. Lewis once wrote:  "There is no neutral ground in the universe.  Every square inch, every split second is claimed by God..."

And this thought created a longing in me that I haven't been able to shake.  It's a longing to experience that reality--God's reality.  To search for thin places in the world where I can see "heaven here on earth," so speak.

At first, I felt awkward about this longing.  I wondered if it was the kind of thing that daydreamers or people who are "losing it" might spend too much time thinking about.  But then I began to understand that there is something deep inside all of us that is constantly yearning for God's reality.

Richard Rohr puts it like this:

The deepest human need and longing is to overcome the separateness the distance from what always seems "over there" and "beyond me"...
Beloved, your longings for connection with the Divine... your longings for a world made better through God's loving, generative spirit... your longing to know and be known...  let yourself feel them, let yourself be guided by them.

And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.

Gender Equality: A Value of the Gospel

Modern Biblical scholarship has produced an abundance of fruit for our collective benefit—if we would only pay attention to what we are being taught by credible mainstream scholars. The same may also be said for modern historical research.

For example, there is a major consensus among Biblical scholars today that the Apostle Paul wrote at least seven New Testament letters: Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon. Also, they are now fairly confident that Paul wrote these letters well before the four Gospels were written.

Why is this important?

It is important because we are able to detect a dramatic shift away from Paul’s original thinking regarding the equality of women in the church (and in society-at-large). In fact, it has been pointed out that Paul was one of the most egalitarian thinkers of the early Christian period, especially regarding women (Galatians 3:28).

But as one reads the rest of the New Testament, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the remaining New Testament letters not believed to have been written by Paul, one may detect a definite shift away from Paul’s egalitarian view of women.

A good example of this is found in John’s Gospel (7:53–8:11), written a few decades after Paul was executed. Now given the suspicion that this text was not originally part of John’s Gospel, it nonetheless reflects a shift away from Paul’s egalitarian view on women.

It doesn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to see that only the woman is brought to Jesus for punishment (stoning) for her sin of adultery. Her male accomplice is mentioned by implication only. He was not subjected to the public humiliation and shame that only the poor woman experienced. 

Why is this?

In this case, however, I believe Jesus ruled correctly although I have always been disappointed that he didn’t at least ask where her male sex partner was? 

There is also evidence that women enjoyed a much more egalitarian relationship with men during the historical period prior to the Agricultural Revolution of 10,000 BCE, after which male dominance and inequality between the sexes diminished, thus producing patriarchal societies with which we are all familiar  today (see, Diarmaid O’Murchu, Incarnation: A New Evolutionary Threshold and Catching Up With Jesus). 

This is a very little known part of human history that remains out of view of most people today. But it is worth looking into just to see how we humans once got it right it seems but for whatever reasons dropped the equality ball when it came to the sexes.

So what does all this tell us today? Is such a view of history even relevant in today's world? Did Jesus have such an effect on Paul’s worldview that it transformed his thinking on the relationship between men and women in terms of equality? Additionally, can we trust the painstaking work of anthropologists regarding the rise of patriarchal dominance following the emergence of the Agricultural Revolution?

Well, I believe the way we answer these important questions will help determine how we as a civilization can successfully recapture the egalitarian spirit demonstrated by both Paul and Jesus as well as our ancient ancestors.

Unless we take the cues of credible scholars, both Biblical and historical, we males will never treat women as our equals. We will never see women wearing the clerical collar in faith traditions that only ordained men. We will never be blessed by female pastors in Fundamentalist churches. We will never benefit from the unique female perspective on both theology and politics. Women will be treated in the workplace as equals to men.

To be blunt, we males will never trust women to be our equal partners in life.

The Apostle Paul was an equalitarian champion of women. The Gospel of Jesus Christ transformed his thinking and elevated his once male opinion of women—as it should have. Paul took his cue from Jesus, yet over time there was pushback by the male powers in the church, reflected in letters written after Paul.

Yes, there are some mainline denominations that acknowledge the equal place of women in both the congregation and among the clergy. Good for them. But it is not enough for us to recapture the spirit of equality that permeated both Jesus’s and Paul’s worldview. 

Until such time that women gain equal footing with men, both in the church and in society-at-large, then I am afraid their place in society will continue to reflect the patriarchal dominance that has ruled for much too long now and women will be less likely to be trusted as equals by dominant males who are intent on holding onto their male power. 

Christians should always bear witness to gender equality taught by both Paul and Christ. 

There is simply no other option for us today.

Resisting the Demons of Fear

“Millions of people in the contemporary world hunger for spiritual meaning but predominantly through compensatory behaviors. Religiosity itself remains a major delusionary outlet. Others, more widely recognized, include hedonism (addictive pleasure), power seeking, recreational drugs, gambling, and economic consumerism (shopping). We use these escapist behaviors to cover over an inner angst, an alienation that frightens and dislocates our otherwise noble aspirations.”

The above observation was made by the social psychologist and priest Diarmuid O’Murchu. O’Murchu’s point is that we humans suffer from a condition that seems to be as old as humanity itself: Alienation!

We can’t seem to help ourselves in this regard. There is something deep within each one of us that repeatedly reminds us that we are alone, disconnected, and our lives are out of synch with any ultimate meaning. It is in our search for connectedness and meaningfulness that we act out in compensatory ways mentioned above.

Perhaps this sense of alienation is graphically depicted in our own Christian story of origin found in Genesis. According to the story (myth), our original parents fled from God because of their own willful disobedience. 

They hid from their Good Creator, separating themselves from his loving embrace and purpose for their lives. They hid within the garden prepared for them. In the midst of God’s creative abundance and goodness, they fearfully squatted in the dense foliage as a means to separate themselves from their Creator.

This alienation was, of course, the result of their own doing, yet the fear that it produced in their hearts and minds continue to haunt us to this day.

We are living in a world today that finds itself deeply alienated from all that is supposed to be good. Like little children trembling in a dark room, afraid of the infamous boogeyman, we humans are seeking compensatory ways to assuage our fears created by our own sense of alienation.

It is no wonder that the single most repeated admonition in the Bible is “fear not!” 

Truth is, we humans are not as alienated as we think we are. We are more connected to meaningfulness than we ever thought possible. 

As we head into the election season there will be political adds infinitum using fear as their strategy for success. The suggested narrative is really quite simple:

“If enough folks can be convinced and made fearful that their way of life is  being seriously threatened then  winning their hearts and minds (and votes) will have been a success.”

Spoiler Alert: Every generation believes their's to be the worst; to be on the verge of destruction; to be on the edge of the so-called “Eve of Destruction!” 

And don’t think for a moment that political strategists of all stripes don’t know this about us.

So political election campaigns focus on our fears that are borne out of our own sense of alienation. We are told that if we vote for this candidate or that candidate then the world as we know it will become immeasurably better or worse depending on who we vote for. 

Hint: Fear is the bait to catch a vote.

Well, don’t fall for this strategy. We are not living on the Eve of Destruction. I for one cannot and will not accept such a dark narrative repeated by the political spin masters of our time.

We should not ignore the pressing issues of our time, nor should we too easily dismiss the human capacity for destructive behaviors. We humans have a lot of work to do in order to access our better angels. But life is not yet hopeless.

For me, the Biblical injunction, “Fear not” is a constant reminder that we all live in a world that certainly offers us opportunities to fear, but also a world we believe has meaning, purpose, and a hopeful future. We only need to discover such purpose and such meaning outside the magnetic pull of imagined fear.

In the words of Jesus: 

“And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I don’t know about you, but these words help cure my own sense of alienation (separation) and gives me hope that no matter how dark the skies are, or how tough life becomes, or how confusing my world seems to be, I am not alone in this huge expanding universe—and neither are you.

Don’t allow political fear mongers to own your heart and mind. We are never alienated from a life of meaning and purpose, if so then we have succumbed to the voices crying “fire, fire” when there really is no fire. 

More importantly, we are never alienated from the One who loves us in ways we just cannot fully imagine.

Fear not!