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Location: Somewhere along the path to where I'd like to be.
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I agree with KayKay. We tend to look at things from the perspective of living in physical ailing bodies that wear out more and more as we get older. But I don't think eternal life is something we're going to look at from a "time" perspective, as though we'll impatiently look at the coming years with dread, thinking they will be mundane as we wait for something new and exciting to happen. The sheer peace, joy, serenity, calm, relaxation and unique interesting things that will be around us will be welcome to us, like a constant fresh breeze that we relish and immerse ourselves within. I don't look at eternity as though billions of years from now we're going to be bored and tired. I look at it as though billions of years from now, we will have only just begun.
Yes, the story is sad. That man spent all his 80-some years and didn't find an answer, or reason, to live. But the reason, and the answer, does indeed exist. We don't get a choice in the matter of eternity: because we will all live forever. But, we DO get a choice in the quality of that eternal life: it will either be great and wonderful, or dismal and frightening. Only a fraction of it will be in our bodies we have now. Death is a door. What you will find on the other side of that door depends on what you decide now about God and Jesus Christ. Either we believe His claims as to who He is, or we don't. (how many miracles must He work, before people will believe?) We either receive Him, or reject Him, it is our decision. We can spend eternity with God, or without God. Personally, I can't imagine trying to live without Him...I don't believe I will EVER get tired of living, as long as God is in my life. (Eternal rest is a misconception: we don't sit around on a cloud playing a harp for eternity...God gives us things to do that are important...it will NOT be dull!)This life we live now in our flesh is a preview...kind of a testing and proving ground...the real living is afterwards. We will all have to walk through death's door, but it is up to us whether we will be prepared.
I think the real question to ask is why would anyone NOT want to live forever?
To be in bodies that will never tire, never get sick or worn down sounds lovely to me. To be able to see my loved ones that I have not seen in years and to get to know the loved ones I didn't get to meet is going to be such sweet joy for me.
To know that I will spend eternity with Jesus, forever more learning of HIs love and seeing firsthand what an awesome being He is gives me such peace that dying has lost it's sting.
To know that my Lord loves me enough to prepare a place for me in Heaven humbles me to no end. I would gladly spend eternity at His feet, listening to Him and washing Him with oils. What an honor, what a blessing.
Montana, I just had to respond to this one, as I am still laughing out loud over your line:
"I mean, how much rejoicing can someone do before it becomes very, very tiresome?"
You crack me up! On a serious note, I'll attempt to take a stab at this one:
The fear of the unknown, the uncertainty, and most of all, the fact that it is extremely hard (I think) for people to begin to imagine the ceasation of consciousness. (The Hindus are particularly big on that last one...) As the temporal world is all we know, and given the fact that we are the only species on earth that is conscious of our own consciousness, to even begin to imagine the ceasation of that is just a "bit" daunting!!! On a very deeply rooted level, I suspect that as human beings, the thought of self annihilation is terrifying. I have to wonder about the fact that just about every major world religion addresses the question of an "afterlife" in one form or another...(Be it "heaven/eternal life" for Christians, or "reincarnation" for Buddhists, or the preservation of consciousness in Atman for the Hindus, etc.)
The drive for self preservation in us is unquestionably very strong. Even the terminally ill find it extremely hard to "let go" in many, many cases. We seem to possess a self-connection; to let go of ourselves, or THE THOUGHT OF OUR SELVES is -- I think -- extremely difficult.
Let me just say that while I share your orientation, Montana, at the same time, for those who are reading what I've said here, I honor and respect the fact that others have dramatically differing beliefs and opinions. We all connect to something within ourselves, whether we call it a "soul" or otherwise. And for that within mankind that seeks something outside oneself, ah...that urge, desire, is as ancient as mankind itself...
I agree that I would not want to live forever, even if I had a perfect, flawless, untiring body as some christians believe in.
I would like to live a good long time under those circumstances, but after a while, once I had acheived perfection in my cooking, brewed the perfect beer, lived Hugh Hefner's lifestyle for a while, climbed a mountain or two, then what? Really? After the first 30 or 40 million years, after you have done everything, experienced it all, then you have to settle down for an eternity of repetition. No thanks.
Eventually I will die, and cease to exist, and as Ian says, this will bother me as much as all the time before I was born bothered me. Not at all.
I really would like to live forever. I don't want to miss a thing. Of course, I am assuming that my body will become young and at the height of health. I don't think I would get bored. Just to think about the things that have occurred since my grandparents time is a different world than today. Imagine the medical breakthroughs, and the possibility of being a commercial space flight pilot. I get all excited just thinking about it. However, back to reality, I am getting a few years on this body, it has served me well and continues to. I know that the time will come when I am not able to take care of myself. When that happens, I pray that the good Lord will take me home . My family knows where my living will is and all my instructions are in the event I am not able to decide for myself..In the meantime Blue still has a lot of livin and lovin to do and will not let a day go by without thanking God for this life
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The unknown
