A couple of years ago, the Pew Research Center did a survey about belief in the existence of heaven.  The research indicated that about three quarters of American adults believe in heaven.  This percentage has held steady over many years despite the continuing decline in religious practice in the United States.  The Pew study was quick to point out that the concept “heaven” was not defined for the purpose of the survey, leaving respondents to supply their own definition of what heaven might mean. 

Based on anecdotal evidence only, I would guess that the survey participants represented the widest possible spectrum of beliefs about the nature of heaven.  I would venture one further guess and say that much of the diversity of opinion about heaven is probably due to organized religion itself. 

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus speaks about the afterlife, but his remarks are rather cryptic.  He said, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?” (Mt 16:25-26) 

This talk about losing and forfeiting, combined with Jesus’ previous remark about picking up one’s cross and following him, explain at least some of the diversity of opinion about heaven and the afterlife. Our culture does not value the idea of accepting happily the challenges that life brings, nor is it a popular idea that one should choose to lose one’s life for a higher purpose. Rather, our culture teaches us to hold and covet ease and comfort, to sacrifice as little as possible and never for the sake of anyone but oneself. Again, based on anecdotal evidence only, the most common images of heaven are consonant with these cultural values of self-concern and self-indulgence. 

In my limited experience, most people’s vision of heaven is a disembodied existence, free from physical burdens, but weirdly filled with physical pleasures. I say “weirdly” because of the logical contradiction of an incorporeal existence that is defined in purely material terms. This isn’t, however, the most glaring inconsistency in the common cultural images about heaven. 

Admittedly, the idea that heaven is both release from physical burdens and fulfillment of material desires is an enticing one. Who wouldn’t want an unending experience of pure, carefree enjoyment? This version of heaven sounds like a kindergartner’s fantasy of unceasing recess interspersed with endless snack time, no naps or alphabet exercises required. There is just that one, nagging contradiction to address. 

If heaven is a hedonist’s delight, even if it’s a G-Rated delight, there is cause for worry. Everyone who has spoken to me about heaven has had a very idiosyncratic but clear vision of heaven; each person’s heaven is an uniquely tailored fulfillment of their own personal desires and fantasies. If this sounds appealing to you, take a moment to reflect on what it really means. Heaven, as the fulfillment of one’s material wants and needs will mean spending an eternity surrounded by people focused on nothing but having their personal desires satisfied. In such a situation, the best one could hope for would be the desolation of utter loneliness because, otherwise, one could never escape the self-serving behavior of everyone else consigned to such a heaven. The thought of spending eternity surrounded by people obsessed with themselves and their wants and concerns is more than enough to make picking up one’s cross sound preferable to me. 

Jesus’ notion of the afterlife is essentially different from any other. He never spoke about seeking to have one’s wants and desires perfectly fulfilled. Rather, he spoke only about fulfilling God’s will by showing mercy and compassion to one’s neighbor. There is a double disconnect here: Jesus instructed his disciples to be concerned solely about their behavior in this life, and he defined this behavior in interpersonal rather than material terms. 

Recently, I saw a newspaper comic strip that depicted a man being greeted at heaven’s gates by all of his former pet dogs. The comic strip author was providing a tongue-in-cheek representation of the cultural expectation that one’s pets will be present in heaven – for one’s enjoyment. In the comic strip, however, it wasn’t the pet owner who was expecting an eternity of enjoyment. All the many dogs which predeceased their owner expected to be petted, played with, walked, and fussed over; the dog owner looked like he was facing a busy and demanding afterlife. 

It might well be a comforting thought that all your former pets will be waiting eagerly to see you in heaven. Jesus’ teaching suggests a version of the afterlife even more comforting than such a scene. What if all your relatives, friends, and former neighbors were also glad to spend eternity with you? 

The path to happiness in this life and the next is not one marked out by physical comforts, passing pleasures, and material things; a happy life is constituted by happy, healthy relationships. For this reason, our own imaginings are not reliable guides to heaven. The only reliable guide to eternal happiness is Jesus’ command to pick up the cross and follow him.