unlearning and relearning
so i have been on this journey and unlearning and relearning things about God, faith, life, Jesus, the Bible, etc for a couple of years now. and one of those things i am still learning is heaven. in the beginings of my faith i was always taught that heaven was a place in the sky, above the clouds - maybe in the clouds, that is a place where we go when we die. it is the best place to be. so wouldn't i want to go there? of course, which then leads to the traditional track and accepting Jesus as my savior. well here i am about 15 years later and i have begun to study the scripture in context, dive into jewsih culture and jewish thought. read about these physical places and study the history of them. one person that has helped me in this is nt wright. and i have been reading his reflections for holy week this week and today he said something so powerful and something that many need to hear. it goes like this (p.33): "one of the hardest theological lessons for us is that when ancient Jews said 'heaven', they didnt mean a place far up in the sky. They ment God's sphere of reality, the place where God lives, and where his future purposes are kept in store." in hearing that a lot of what Jesus says about the kingdom of God starts to come in focus. the kingdom is here now, God's sphere of reality is merging with earth's - specifically through Christ. if we could only help others unlearn all about heaven and start over with this understanding, God's kingdom here, now - heaven here now. heaven is God's sphere much like earth is our sphere. and the point is that they 'intersect, overlap, interlock and merge' (as wright puts it). and ultimately in the death on the cross of our saviour. the beginning of heaven here. oh that we could understand this. what would that mean? would we be more careful with what we throw in the trash? would we be more aware of the hurting and the needy right now, instead of worrying if all my ducks will be in a row when i die. people, heaven is here now - let's live like it and in such a way as to help others unlearn and relearn about what our lives here on earth are all about!
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