RE: Heaven would be good
December 10, 2015 at 11:48 pm
(This post was last modified: December 10, 2015 at 11:48 pm by Vincent.)
Even if Heaven were the greatest paradise imaginable, even if it were so great that the human mind cannot even conceive of its greatness, it would eventually become agony.
I don't think the religious take time to contemplate just how long an eternity is, and how torturous it would be to be forced to live on for that amount of time. I think back to a book I read in high school called "Bless Me Ultima". The priest in the story tries to explain to the children how long an eternity is by telling them this: "Listen now… how long do you think it would take to move this mountain of sand all the way across the ocean, until you have the mountain over there and an empty space here? Ah, ah, ah… before you answer, let me tell you how you have to move that enormous mountain of sand. A little bird, a sparrow, is going to move that mountain for you. And the sparrow can only hold one little grain of sand in its beak. It has to pick up only one little grain of sand, fly all the way across the wide ocean, put down the grain of sand, then fly all the way back for another grain of sand. It takes the little bird weeks just to fly across the ocean, and each time it carries only one grain of sand.…when the little bird has moved that mountain of sand across the ocean that is only the first day of eternity."
I don't know about anyone else, but I cannot handle the idea of living- of existing - for that long, regardless of whether or not it is in eternal torment or eternal happiness. The first 1000 years might be bearable, the first 10,000 years an anguish, and the first 100,000 years total and absolute torture. You're pleading to die, begging for the sweet relief of nonexistence. Life is meant to be born and die. That is the natural order of things, and to violate that comes at a price. The human mind was not designed to endure more than 150 years, let alone 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 more (and the zeroes do not stop in eternity). What meaning can I make for my life if it never ends?
I don't think the religious take time to contemplate just how long an eternity is, and how torturous it would be to be forced to live on for that amount of time. I think back to a book I read in high school called "Bless Me Ultima". The priest in the story tries to explain to the children how long an eternity is by telling them this: "Listen now… how long do you think it would take to move this mountain of sand all the way across the ocean, until you have the mountain over there and an empty space here? Ah, ah, ah… before you answer, let me tell you how you have to move that enormous mountain of sand. A little bird, a sparrow, is going to move that mountain for you. And the sparrow can only hold one little grain of sand in its beak. It has to pick up only one little grain of sand, fly all the way across the wide ocean, put down the grain of sand, then fly all the way back for another grain of sand. It takes the little bird weeks just to fly across the ocean, and each time it carries only one grain of sand.…when the little bird has moved that mountain of sand across the ocean that is only the first day of eternity."
I don't know about anyone else, but I cannot handle the idea of living- of existing - for that long, regardless of whether or not it is in eternal torment or eternal happiness. The first 1000 years might be bearable, the first 10,000 years an anguish, and the first 100,000 years total and absolute torture. You're pleading to die, begging for the sweet relief of nonexistence. Life is meant to be born and die. That is the natural order of things, and to violate that comes at a price. The human mind was not designed to endure more than 150 years, let alone 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 more (and the zeroes do not stop in eternity). What meaning can I make for my life if it never ends?
