Someone once noted that all dogs go to heaven and probably most cats too. How about people though, do all people go to heaven? Human beings talk about going to heaven, seeking entrance at the Pearly Gates and then sitting on some lofty cloud while looking down on the rest of the miserable mortal population struggling to make it through each day.
Frankly, that scenario is doubtful. The truth of the matter is far more complicated and hopeful. People have to seek heaven. When it comes to the spiritual side of life, nothing is automatic. Human beings have to want to find the light of the Divine on the other side of mortal life.
However, when your days are packed with making a living, raising children, caring for a family, having and being a friend, the thought of heaven seems like a distant concept best left for that occasional Sunday in church. And honestly, does any church really help you prepare for heaven?
Churches are social clubs with a hierarchy, politics, rules, regulations, and expectations. The texts that are used are tailored to that particular faith’s belief system. Few church organizations welcome too much elasticity outside of the accepted norm of spiritual structure, [accepted] scripture, or sociology. Even specific religions have branches of faith, more accepted than others. Many small towns only define you by what faith you ascribe to and how you demonstrate that faith by church attendance.
Nothing in the paragraph above talked about preparing for or going to heaven. You would think that would be the focus of church: preparation for tomorrow by interpreting the actions of today, but that is seldom the case.
Who gets into heaven is entirely dependent on the following factors:
• What do you believe to be true about yourself?
• What relationship have you cultivated with the Divine?
• What is your belief in an afterlife?
• How much are you able to love people, and life itself at the end of each day and ultimately at the end of your own life?
• What is your personal definition of hope, reincarnation and love?
All of our lives, we hear people talk about love and yet, at the end of our lives, how much can we say that we loved ourselves, our families, and our friends? Many people who own pets freely adore them with a tremendous level of unconditional love. However, those same people may find that they have significant difficulty applying that same level of unconditional love to the people in their lives. People hurt and disappoint us. We hurt and disappoint ourselves, and the sheer volume of this hurt and disappointment acts as an impediment to moving into the heaven world. Most of us would like to get there, but we are the stumbling block to our own spiritual progress an uncomfortable percentage of the time.
Human beings will be welcomed into heaven because we are all children of the same loving God. No matter where in the world we are born, no matter what faith we cling too and no matter what our method of death may be we can all be welcomed home. The truly great Masters who have walked this Earth have tried to share this ‘good news’ with us. Are we listening?
Most people seek to be a good person every single day. Not too many people wake up and say “Gee, I think I will be a stinker today and make the world a nightmare.” Perhaps there are those people out there, but mostly, the world is made up of good people. [I know, I find them everywhere I go!]
We can be lovingly embraced at the point of death and transition into heaven if we believe that we are and have been a good person throughout our lives. It is an exciting time, this transition. However, for many people that time is fraught with pain because of one single word: Guilt, yes, Guilt, with a capital ‘G’! Part 2 Getting into Hell
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