I don’t. I’ve never heard of a description of any heaven in any religion that had any long-term appeal for a rational, intelligent person.
Valhala sounds pretty cool if you’re a dude. Fight all day, drink and wench all night.
For heaven to be heaven, it would be our fulfillment in every way.
“There have been times when I think we do not desire heaven; but more often I find myself wondering whether, in our heart of hearts, we desire anything else.”
C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
“Only a fool looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.” - Ulysses Everett McGill
Me, I look for valvular calcifications or mural thromboses there.
My belief in an afterlife does make me less sad about death. I’ve lost both a child (to illness) and a brother (to suicide) and although I was/am sad to lose them, and I’m terribly terribly sad for the pain they suffered, I am greatly comforted by believing that this is not the end of the story, that they do not suffer now, that the relationship between us continues, that I will be with them. Despite these losses (and my brother’s was quite recent, 9 months ago) I am happy most of the time.
I really don’t fear death. I don’t want to leave my living children motherless until they are adults, and my parents should not have to outlive any more of their children, but one day I will die and that’s OK. In fact, I’m pretty frakking excited about it when I think about it.
No, you just never heard one that appeals to you. You don’t speak for all rational, intelligent people.
I think this is it.
Even if it is logical it’s still a reaction to loss. You’re still losing something.
Also no one is certain they are going to Heaven, that’s just not part of the Christian paradigm. I mean some people claim they are certain but that’s a pretense because it’s pretty explicit that only Christ can judge such things.
If Christ is God, and knew when the person was concieved that would suffer for all eternity why would he have to be judged? Why have a child you know for sure will suffer for all eternity? I know I wouldn’t concieve such a child if I know ahead of time that it’s fate would just be suffering. Where is such a God’s Compassion?
Looking forward to the next stage in your life doesn’t mean you can’t also be sad about leaving the current one.
Don’t bring a gun to a knife fight.
And you are right.
I just recently moved all the way across the country from a town where some of my oldest friends live. It’s highly unlikely that I’ll ever see any of them again. It’s sad, and I’ll miss them.
However, if I were to hear that they died, I’d be devastated. There’s simply no comparing the two situations.
Also, per the Apostle Paul, death is an enemy that is not yet overcome, in a sense. The concept that one you love slows down, and totally stops, and becomes inanimate in front of you, and you wrap them up and stick them into the ground to rot isn’t something that is natural. The enemy has just demonstrated some power over the one that you have devoted much of your life to. For believers in a resurrection, there is also the question: Is this person in heaven or hell? I may be certain about me, but what about this one? There are temptations and trials (which are guaranteed for Christians) in the loss of a loved one, and grief/tears are one way of dealing with them.
I don’t know if this will help, but here it is for what it’s worth. My husband of 40 years recently died of cancer. He was sick. He was suffering. Death was a release. He died peacefully under morphine. He (and all of us) were and are utterly sure of his salvation, and we rejoiced for him. But we were emotionally exhausted and sad to be separated from him–even for the brief time until we join him in eternity. So we grieve and we cry and we accept that it isn’t 100% logical because we are (after all) humans, not vulcans.