CHAPTER SEVEN

I revered our Theology, and aspired as much as any one to reach heaven: but being given assuredly to understand that the way is not less open to the most ignorant than to the most learned, and that the revealed truths which lead to heaven are above our comprehension, I did not presume to subject them to the impotency of my Reason; and I thought that in order competently to undertake their examination, there was need of some special help from heaven, and of being more than man.

Discourse On The Method
Part I
Rene Descartes
1637

I don't think I'll be goin' to heaven. What will happen to me when I die? I will first meet Death. She will appear to me, and comfort me, trying to make me meet my end with good cheer. We will chat briefly about life and her family. I will ask how her brothers Dream and Destiny, and how her sisters Despair, Desire, and Delirum are. She will reply. What will happen to me will depend on what I believed in when I died. If I was Christian, I will be delivered to heaven - the Silver City - or condemn myself to hell. Or if I believed in the old Greek myths, I would be sent to Hades and become one of the subjects of King Hades and Queen Persphone. If I believed in nothing upon my death, I would be brought to the realm of whomever wants me to become their subject. Or be placed into a realm where Death sees that I will be of the most use. If I am lucky, I will be choosen to be a helper or subject to one of The Endless (Death, Dream, etc.) in their realm. I will serve them as one of their subjects until the end of eternity, or leave when I feel that I need a change of "scenery." What will happen to me then, I have no idea.

Jeffery Ng, 16
"The third of the fallen"
Vancouver, British Columbia
Asian Link BBS network

The words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain,
And he saw God face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses; therefore Moses could endure his presence.
And God spake unto Moses, saying: Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this endless?
And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands; but not all, for my works are without end, and also my words, for they never cease.
Wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory; and no man can behold all my glory, and afterwards remain in the flesh on the earth.
And I have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them all.
And now, behold, this one thing I show unto thee, Moses, my son; for thou art in the world, and now I show it unto thee.
And it came to pass that Moses looked, and beheld the world upon which he was created; and Moses beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and wondered.
And the presence of God withdrew from Moses, that his glory was not upon Moses; and Moses was left unto himself. And as he was left unto himself, he fell unto the earth.
........
And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.
And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.
And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.
And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying: Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them?
And behold, the glory of the Lord was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and talked with him face to face. And the Lord God said unto Moses: For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom and it remaineth in me.
And by the word of my power, have I created them, which is mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth.
And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.
And it came to pass that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying: Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.
And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine.
And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.
For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Moses (excerpts)
Pearl of Great Price
(c) 1981 Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

...like the cover of an old book, its contents torn out, and stript of its lettering and gilding...yet the work itself shall not be lost, for it will appear once more in a new and more beautiful edition.

Benjamin Franklin

Heaven and earth, center and circumference were made in the same instant of time...and man was created by the Trinity on the 26th of October, 4004 B.C. at 9 o'clock in the morning.

John Lightfoot

The dead don't die. They look on and help.

D.H. Lawrence

(Death is) the most beautiful adventure in life.

Charles Frohman

Emigrated to another star!

Helen H. Jackson

A matter of going from one room to another, ultimately to the most beautiful room.

Mendel of Kotzk

The common conception...is that of...a kind of middle-class home, with goodness all around, the lost one resotred, hymnody incessant.

Matthew Arnold

A penitential colony where the virtuous and the good are condemned to eternal fellowship for their stupidities uttered on earth.

Elbert Hubbard

A place where one is permitted to continue one's...inanities for an eternity.

Elbert Hubbard

To rest in God eternally...Indeed, Heaven has no meaning but that.

Bede Jarrett

There is no place of toil, no burning heat, no piercing cold, nor any briars there.

Flavius Josephus

In the heaven-world there is no fear; thou art not there, O Death, and no one is afraid on account of old age. Leaving behind both hunger and thirst, and out of the reach of sorrow, all rejoice in the world of heaven.

Katha Upanishad

Gardens and vineyards
Damsels with swelling breasts...
And a brimming cup.

Mahomet
Sara, 78

A fair blue stretch of sky.

John Masefield

There is a world above
Where parting is unknown;
A whole eternity of love,
Form'd for the good alone.

James Montgomery

The next world.

Plautus

Nothing else than the well-ordered society of those who enjoy the vision of God.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

The perfectly ordered and harmonius enjoyment of God, and of one another in God.

Saint Augustine

Eating "foie gras" to the sound of trumpets.

Sydney Smith

Heaven is such that all who have lived well, of whatever religion, have a place there.

Emanuel Swedenborg

In heaven there is no eating, drinking, propagation, business, jealousy, hatred or competition, but the righteous sit, with their crowns on their heads, enjoying the brilliance of the Divine Presence.

Talmud
Berakot, 17a

Might be defined as the place men avoid.

Henry David Thoreau

A small American community composed of white Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

Anon.

To ascend in essence to an ecstatic meeting with the friends we have loved and lost, and whom we shall still love and never loose again.

Thomas Jefferson

We would not call it resurrection unless the soul returned to the same body, for resurrection means a second rising.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Heaven Springtime, sunrise, everything that's fresh and new.
Blossoms, birthdays, skies that are always blue
and lovely.

Fireside, candles, everything that's warm and light.
Rainbows, ribbons, stars that are burning bright
above me.

Parties, picnics, everything that's full of fun.
Father, Mother, faces of everyone
I care for.

Christmas, Easter, every extra special day.
Handshakes, hugs and blessings on thos I pray
a prayer for.

Heaven is like, heaven is like
everything I'd like it to be.
I guess that's why, yes that is why
living there is heavenly.

Lyrics by Carol Lynn Pearson
(c)1977 Embyro Music

Vision of Judgment

BRU-A-A-A.
I listened, not understanding.
Wa-ra-ra-ra.
"Good Lord!" said I, still only half awake. "What an infernal shindy!"
Ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra-ra Ta-ra-rra-ra.
"It's enough," said I, "to wake - " and stopped short.
Where was I?
Ta-rra-rara-louder and louder.
"It's either some new invention - "
Toora-toora-toora! Deafening!
"No," said I, speaking loud in order to hear myself.
"That's the Last Trump."
Tooo-rraa!
The last note jerked me out of my grave like a hooked minnow.
I saw my monument (rather a mean little affair, and I wished I knew who'd done it), and the old elm tree and the sea view vanished like a puff of steam, and then all about me - a multitude no man could number, nations, tongues, kingdoms, peoples - children of all the ages, in an amphitheatral space as vast as the sky. And over against us, seated on a throne of dazzling white cloud, the Lord God and all the host of his angels. I recognised Azreal by his darkness and Michael by his sword, and the great angel who had blown the trumpet stood with the trumpet still half raised.

"Prompt," said the little man beside me. "Very prompt.
Do you see the angel with the book?"
He was ducking and craning his head about to see over and under and between the souls that crowded round us. "Everybody's here," he said. "Everybody. And now we shall know -

"There's Darwin," he said, going off at a tangent. "He'll catch it! And there - you see? - that tall, important-looking man trying to catch the eye of the Lord God, that's the Duke. But there's a lot of people one doesn't know.

"Oh! there's Priggles, the publisher. I have always wondered about printers' overs. Priggles was a clever man. But we shall know now - even about him.

"I shall hear all that. I shall get most of the fun before. My letter's S."
He drew the air in between his teeth.

"Historical characters, too. See? That's Henry the Eighth. There'll be a good bit of evidence. Oh, damn! He's Tudor."
He lowered his voice. "Notice this chap, just in front of us, all covered with hair. Paleolithic, you know. And there again - "
But I did not heed him, because I was looking at the Lord God.
"Is this all?" asked the Lord God.
The angel at the book - it was one of countless volumes, like the British Museum Reading-room Catalogue - glanced at us and seemed to count us in the instant.
"That's all," he said, and added: "It was, O God, a very little planet."
The eyes of God surveyed us.
"Let us begin," said the Lord God.

The angel opened the book and read a name. It was a name full of A's, and the echoes of it came back out of the uttermost parts of space. I did not catch it clearly, because the little man beside me said, in a sharp jerk, "What's that?"

It sounded like "Ahab" to me; but it could not have been the Ahab of Scripture.
Instantly a small black figure was lifted up to a puffy cloud at the very feet of God. It was a stiff little figure, dressed in rich outlandish robes and crowned, and it folded its arms and scowled.
"Well?" said God, looking down at him.
We were privileged to hear the reply, and indeed the acoustic properties of the place were marvellous.
"I plead guilty," said the little figure.
"Tell them what you have done," said the Lord God.
"I was a king," said the little figure, "a great king, and I was lustful and proud and cruel. I made wars, I devastated countries, I built palaces, and the mortar was the blood of men. Hear, O God, the witnesses against me, calling to you for vengeance. Hundreds and thousands of witnesses." He waved his hands towards us. "And worse! I took a prophet - one of your prophets - "

"One of my prophets," said the Lord God.
"And because he would not bow to me, I tortured him for four days and nights, and in the end he died. I did more, 0 God, I blasphemed. I robbed you of your honours - "
"Robbed me of my honours," said the Lord God.
"I caused myself to be worshipped in your stead. No evil was there but I practised it; no cruelty wherewith I did not stain my soul. And at last you smote me, O God!"
God raised his eyebrows slightly. "And I was slain in battle. And so I stand before you, meet for your nethermost Hell! Out of your greatness daring no lies, daring no pleas, but telling the truth of my iniquities before all mankind."

He ceased. His face I saw distinctly, and it seemed to me white and terrible and proud and strangely noble. I thought of Milton's Satan.
"Most of that is from the Obelisk," said the Recording Angel, finger on page.
"It is," said the Tyrannous Man, with a faint touch of surprise.
Then suddenly God bent forward and took this man in his hand, and held him up on his palm as if to see him better. He was just a little dark stroke in the middle of God's palm.
"Did he do all this?" said the Lord God.
The Recording Angel flattened his book with his hand.
"In a way," said the Recording Angel, carelessly.
Now when I looked again at the little man his face had changed in a very curious manner. He was looking at the Recording Angel with a strange apprehension in his eyes, and one hand fluttered to his mouth. Just the movement of a muscle or so, and all that dignity of defiance was gone.

"Read," said the Lord God.
And the angel read, explaining very carefully and fully all the wickedness of the Wicked Man. It was quite an intellectual treat. A little daring in places, I thought, but of course Heaven has its privileges.
Everybody was laughing. Even the prophet of the Lord whom the Wicked Man had tortured had a smile on his face. The Wicked Man was really such a preposterous little fellow.
"And then," read the Recording Angel, with a smile that set us all agog, "one day, when he was a little irascible from over-eating, he - "
"Oh, not that," cried the Wicked Man, "nobody knew of that.
"It didn't happen," screamed the Wicked Man. "I was bad - I was really bad. Frequently bad, but there was nothing so silly - so absolutely silly - "
The angel went on reading.
"O God!" cried the Wicked Man. "Don't let them know that! I'll repent! I'll apologise."
The Wicked Man on God's hand began to dance and weep. Suddenly shame overcame him. He made a wild rush to jump off the ball of God's little finger, but God stopped him by a dexterous turn of the wrist. Then he made a rush for the gap between hand and thumb, but the thumb closed. And all the while the angel went on reading - reading. The Wicked Man rushed to and fro across God's palm, and then suddenly turned about and fled up the sleeve of God.

I expected God would turn him out, but the mercy of God is infinite.
The Recording Angel paused.
"Eh?" said the Recording Angel.
"Next," said God, and before the Recording Angel could call upon the name, a hairy creature in filthy rags stood upon God's palm.
"Has God got Hell up his sleeve then?" said the little man beside me.
"Is there a Hell?" I asked.
"If you notice," he said - he peered between the feet of the great angels - "there's no particular indication of the Celestial City."
"Ssh!" said a little woman near us, scowling. "Hear this blessed Saint!"
"He was Lord of the Earth, but I was the prophet of the God of Heaven," cried the Saint, "and all the people marvelled at the sign. For I, O God, knew of the glories of thy Paradise. No pain, no hardship, gashing with knives, splinters thrust under my nails, strips of flesh flayed off, all for the glory and honour of God."

God smiled.
"And at last I went, I in my rags and sores, smelling of my holy discomforts - "
Gabriel laughed abruptly.
"And lay outside his gates, as a sign, as a wonder - "
"As a perfect nuisance," said the Recording Angel, and began to read, heedless of the fact that the Saint was still speaking of the gloriously unpleasant things he had done that Paradise might be his.

And behold, in that book the record of the Saint also was a revelation, a marvel.
It seemed not ten seconds before the Saint also was rushing to and fro over the great palm of God. Not ten seconds! And at last he also shrieked beneath that pitiless and cynical exposition, and fled also, even as the Wicked Man had fled, into the shadow of the sleeve. And it was permitted us to see into the shadow of the sleeve. And the two sat side by side, stark of all delusions, in the shadow of the robe of God's charity, like brothers.

And thither also I fled in my turn.
"And now," said God, as he shook us out of his sleeve upon the planet he had given us to live upon, the planet that whirled about green Sirius for a sun, "now that you understand me and each other a little better - try again."

Then he and his great angels turned themselves about and suddenly had vanished.
The Throne had vanished.
All about me was a beautiful land, more beautiful than any I had ever seen before - waste, austere, and wonderful; and all about me were the enlightened souls of men in new clean bodies...

H. G. Wells

Chapter Eight

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