Heavens to Betsy!

In many places in the bible it is indicated that Heaven is ‘above the Earth’, that God looks ‘down’ upon us, and of course Jesus ‘rose’ to Heaven after his resurrection, so it is obviously somewhere in outer space, although so far our explorations have not found it.  But it is obvious that these ancient scribes thought of Heaven as being “up”, because man couldn’t fly, so only his soul could go there. And because they rose so high, taller mountains were considered sacred.  However, unless it’s located in another universe, then from our perspective, Heaven, like all the other planets and the distant stars,  must pass across our sky as the Earth rotates, so obviously half the time it would be ‘above’ our horizon, and the other half on the opposite side. This means that the sports figures who, after making a good play, always point up to give thanks to their creator, are wrong half of the time, in fact pointing down would be just as correct.

It is amazing, however, how little we know about this magical place where believers expect to spend eternity.  I recall JC saying ” in my house there are many mansions”, and there are references in the Bible to singing and praising Gawd, but little real facts, although it is understood by most that the lucky ones will meet all their old friends and relatives, but as I’ve said elsewhere, if everyone receives new bodies, what age will they appear to be?  Will everyone be in the prime of life again? 

We often hear references to Saint Peter at the golden gate to Heaven, but I don’t think that is a biblical story.  If true, it seems that everyone, after death,  reaches this golden archway, but we non-believers are not allowed in, so are sent to Hell.  Considering  how many people die every day, there must be quite a line-up  at the Gates of Heaven.