Monday 15 April 2002

Pic of the day: Bought new issue of Strangers in Paradise today. How appropriate.

Stranger in Paradise?

Yesterday in the chat room, a comrade asked what I would do if I had four months left to live. I am not sure. I am pretty sure that in the past I would have repented grandly, trying to convince God to let me live or at the very least reserve a good place in the afterlife. I still really want to live and then have a nice afterlife. Actually I would much like to live forever. But what kind of life?

It does not make sense to entirely change my life to one that I would not want to go on living. Take the whole thing about sin, for instance. It is generally agreed that in Paradise, there won't be any sin at all. So if I truly and unconditionally love sin, then Paradise would be a Hell, a place of suffering without end. To go on living and never again be able to do the things that made life worth living ... what kind of paradise would that be? To always feel the loss inside, the bitterness of not being able to truly live ... Luckily, sin isn't such a big issue for me. I mean, sure it can be fun, but it tends to cost more than it tastes. It's not all that important anyway.

Something similar holds for sex, which is a separate issue and not the same. It is generally agreed that there will be no sex in Paradise. Not because it is sinful or dirty or something, but because we won't be sexual beings if we come there. Jesus Christ pretty much said as much: Those who are found worthy of resurrection will not marry or be given in marriage, for they will be as angels, children of God, children of the resurrection. One friend of mine proposed the interpretation that there will be free sex in Paradise, since there is no marriage. But to the best of my knowledge, that is not how angels work.

For most animals, sex is all about procreation. For humans it is not. Until just recently, there was no procreation without sexual intercourse, but this interaction and a lot of related activities have other functions too. Some (and most famous) have to do with expressing love. I suspect that in Paradise, we will not use sex to express love. We will have other ways to do that. And we will be able to express our love equally regardless of the (former) gender of the other person, and family relationships if any. That should be a good thing. So, instead of free sex, there will presumably be free love. And that was the point, after all, wasn't it? (My memories of the 60es are a bit hazy ... in my case, because I was just a kid, though I guess they might have been hazy anyway.)

What I'm trying to say is: Would I be a stranger in Paradise? Or would I fit in, at least with some modification? I dare say that some modification would be in order. I am still too self-centered to be an ideal ideal Paradise citizen. I love myself too much compared to others. But I'm pretty sure I would like it there, and I probably wouldn't make it a Hell for other people there either. (I still recommend Jean-Paul Sartre's short screenplay on this topic. I think the English title is either "No exit" or the most famous quote, "Hell is other people".)

I wonder how much attitude adjustment is possible during the transition from here to there. None at all? Some? A whole lot? I think that if you really like to see other people suffer, and God reprograms you so you can fit into Paradise, then you are no longer the same person. So the original person goes to oblivion and a new one is created. That seems meaningless. There would suddenly be this completely unwritten sheet. A stranger in Paradise. Well, we shall have to see if we get there, I guess. But I really don't think there can be a Paradise of unwilling souls. For I believe that the Kingdom of Heaven is within us, and that the heart makes itself a Heaven or a Hell. (Presumably with some help from the corresponding powers that be.) I have some experience with them both.

Just to be sure, I guess we should love more while we are here, if we aspire to Paradise ... in this world or the next.

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Mandatory Chris de Burgh reference of the day:

Maybe you will never know how much I love you,
but of this be sure:
Here is your paradise, here is your book of life,
where you and I will be forevermore;
Here is your paradise, here is your book of life,
where you and I will be forevermore.

Chris de Burgh: Here is your Paradise, from the CD This Way Up.

***

Further proof that the Lord lives and reads my journal: Yesterday I mentioned (I guess it counts as slight whining) that despite the benevolent presence of the Lord in my life, I was unable to discuss such topics as biochemistry etc with him. Well, today my best friend called. (She does, on principle, NOT read my journal.) And we spent like two hours talking about the benefits of Methotrexate on patients with rheumatioid arthritis, until she went to bed. (She does not suffer from arthritis, it is her work. Thank God.)