Chapter 5: The Results of the Quest: What Difference Does Heaven Make to Monday Morning?

Premise: Why work seriously on a sinking ship? Why is the belief in Heaven not escapism?

Thinking about Heaven is not escapism because it determines my essence. My destiny determines my essence; animals’ essence determines their destiny. I am a flying arrow, determined by the target because I have been launched by the mind of a divine archer, a mind with a purpose. Finding my purpose is the exact opposite of escapism; it is finding my essence. Concern for heaven is as escapist as looking through the windshield rather than in the rearview mirror as you are locked in a speeding car lurching over foggy, rocky terrain with the road maps gone, (p. 170). God would not allow any evil to exist in his works unless his omnipotence and goodness were such to bring good even out of evil, (Augustine, p. 172). Heaven is not escapist, for earth is Heaven’s womb. If this earth is all there is, then this is all I am: my earthly identity, my ego and what it possesses, me and mine. But death removes all I possess, even my body. If that’s all I am, I’m not much. If I’m not stronger than death, then I’m not much before death either. If I have no heavenly identity, I don’t have much of an earthly identity either, (p. 176-177).

Faith is simply believing what we have been told, believing the unbelievable: that God has the ace up his sleeve; that the worst the devil can do is to contribute unwillingly to the best God does; that even deicide worked out for our salvation, (p. 182). The logical consequence of believing what we have been told is utter fearlessness. Nothing in the universe can separate us from our joy, from our God. Nothing can harm us. We are impervious. We are redeemed, indestructible souls guaranteed new, indestructible bodies, (p. 182). Would you not return fearless and singing? What can earth do to you if you are guaranteed heaven? To fear the worst earthly loss would be like a millionaire fearing the loss of a penny-less, a scratch on a penny, (p. 183). The only qualification is to thirst, desire; “all who seek find.” It wasn’t worrywarts who won the world. Nor was it iron wills. It was doubting Thomases and foot-in-mouth-disease Peters and persecuting Pauls who became little Christ’s by believing the good news of the big Christ: It is finished, (p. 184).

Joyful people are strong, open and eager for action. Their joy gives them an energy and a power. We all know this from experience, but not all of us know where that joy comes from. It comes from Heaven, (p. 193). Unless we fight, we do not fail. Unless we fail, we do not know our need. Unless we know our need, we’re not in the market for God’s grace, (p. 193). The only thing god wants from us, is our desire for it, our yes to it. The “it” is Him; His name is Jesus, (p. 199).