Date Posted:15:16:27 03/20/02 Wed Author: mt. healthy mountaineer Subject: Re: :) In reply to:
mvd
's message, ":)" on 14:47:53 03/20/02 Wed
I will never attain these things in my lifetime because no one ever does. Have you met the perfect person? Who loves perfectly? Who forgives perfectly? We can only do this more perfectly, to borrow a phrase from the U.S. Constitution.
I really don't know what Heaven is like, I have no expectation of it and my faith has made this life better for me. An afterlife (which I do believe in) is just gravy.
It could be the higher consciousness you mention. Actually, I'm kinda leaning towards the concept of a resurrected body in an earth(-like) location where man lives free of sin (selfishness, which is the root of all evil,IMO. Love is the opposite of it). If its better than that, cool. If its not, cool. Its not my call either way.
Plus, my faith is not in an afterlife - it is in Forgiveness through Christ. It is here - right now - that I am benefitting. Its like if you had a great job AND it has great retirement benefits. You keep the great job because it is a great job, not just because of the good retirement plan.
Faith cannot be rooted in expectation of reward (afterlife) because then it is not faith - that is just working for a paycheck. My faith is rooted in my forgiven state and the peace and love that it gives me.
