John Lennon’s, Imagine, challenges us to consider a world that surpasses the world that we know. Imagining a world where there is no war, poverty, or hunger is “really easy if we try.”
Thankfully, we don’t have to “imagine” such a world. It does exist. However, one would have to admit that to ponder the things of heaven would take a lifetime and then some.
Considering some things of heaven that we do know should bring us to our knees in prayers of gratitude. The aforementioned qualities of heaven – no war, hunger, and poverty – are reasons enough to thank God forever. But heaven offers so much more.
Consider, for example, a world where there are no gradations of power. In the Kingdom of God, the valleys are filled and the hills made low. There is a level playing field where everyone has a place at the table of God. In God’s kingdom, there are no vassals. Everyone belongs to the Royal household of God.
Called and chosen by Christ to be adopted sons and daughters of the same Father, we are all seated at the right hand of God. From an earthly perspective, this is hard to “imagine.” How can we as individuals collectively be seated at the Father’s right hand? And yet, we are.
Imagine a child resting her head peacefully on her father’s chest and listening to his heart. In Christ, we all are blessed to be so intimately close to our Heavenly Father. We are that close! This is more than mere “imagination.” It is real!
Though we trust that this is real and more than mere “imagination,” we still live in this world confined by the things of this world.
Getting beyond mere imagination and accepting the very real truth that we are at God’s right hand and in communion with our God is very difficult. Limited by our body’s senses and our soul’s intellect and will, this truth is often “theoretical.”
There is a temptation not to press us into accepting this reality. We become comfortable being merely human and merely imagining what is real, rather than accepting the reality for what it is.
We really are in communion with God. We really are brothers and sisters in Christ. We really are Christ for one another. We really are God’s sons and daughters. We really are members of his royal household.
This grace of Christ living within us calls us beyond the lie that we are “like” God.
Who is like God? “No one” is the true answer. Rather, born again in Christ Jesus, we “are” Christ who “is” God.
John puts it this way: “See what love the Father has for us, that He has called us sons of God, and so we are!...We are truly children of God” (1 John 3:1-2).
Calling on the name of St. Michael to defend us in battle against the father of lies helps us to reclaim our true essence.
It should be remembered that the name of St. Michael reminds us who we are, but the name of Jesus makes us who we are.
Jesus means, “God saves.”
Being saved is more than getting to heaven. Salvation is making us who we are predestined to be. Only through faith and hope in Jesus are we able to step beyond mere “imagination,” and into reality.
Thankfully, we have the Word and Sacraments to guide us and help us to accept who we really are.
During our life on earth the Word and Sacraments are received in an imperfect manner by faith; in the life of heaven we will assume it perfectly in the glorious vision St. Paul speaks of: “When perfection comes, the imperfect will disappear.... Now we see as in a mirror, darkly; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in an imperfect way; then I will know as I am known” (1 Cor 13:10,12).
The more we reflect on the Word and celebrate the Sacraments in our church, the more we claim who we really are. The sacraments themselves are more then mere symbols of Christ’s presence. They are both signs and reality of the real presence of Christ among us.
This is best realized in the Eucharist where what we receive is not “like” the body of Christ. We receive the true body and blood, soul and divinity of Christ. And we become what we receive.
As we consider heaven, it is best to understand it as something more than a place for living. Rather, heaven is a state of being.
In this state of being, we are one with God. Our Creator-Being invites us to be with Him. In and through Christ, we abide in God and God in us.
In heaven there is no separation from God or “likeness” to God. In heaven, “we are one in the Spirit and one in the Lord.” (1 Cor 6:17)
This is true for us on earth; though, while we abide here in the world that is seen and visible, our oneness with God is not fully recognized.
As we abide here on earth, we must strive always to be one with God. We must likewise avoid being “like” God.
Desiring to be one with God means putting on love. God is Love and if we abide in love we abide in God and God in us. Heaven, therefore, is not a place but a state of being ... Being In Love!
Saint Michael, unlike Satan, abides in heaven because he desires not to be “like” God or anything other than what he was created to be. He rests eternally in the state of being in love.
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