Most peoples, no matter the formality, foundation, or details of their spiritual views, believe that the ancestors who have passed on before them watch over and guide them. Call them what you will ~ guardian angels, spirit guides, whatever ~ but the idea is the same. We find comfort in the belief that loved ones continue to smile on us from the beyond.
As a Christian, I believe in Heaven, which means that I must therefore believe in Hell. However, what I believe about Heaven and Hell might differ somewhat from other Christians. I don't know that I believe in a literal place with streets made of gold and the sea of precious stone where angels in white flowing robes fly around playing harps. Nor am I convinced of a literal place of eternal fire governed by a horned, spike-tailed, red body demon with a blazing pitchfork. Not to say that the Book of Revelations got it wrong, only that Revelations was a mortal's best attempt to give words to the indescribable magnificence of the immortal.
I interpret Heaven vs. Hell on a very simple level. Heaven is eternity in the blessed presence of my loving, forgiving Savior and God, while Hell is eternity away from Him ~ regardless of the scenery.
A friend and I were talking recently about loved ones passed on and how each of us find comfort in the thought that their spirits still move in our lives. Interestingly, this friend is not a believer, but she believes in guardian angels. She mentioned that she sort of grapples with the idea, though, because she has a hard time with the ideas of Heaven and Hell.
Knowing that taking a religious slant would not encourage her to really think about it ~ she does have some knowledge of the Christian faith ~ I was inspired to take a different path.
"Would you agree with the fundamental scientific fact that matter can be neither created nor destroyed?" "Yes." "Would you agree also to the fact that humans are energetic beings?" "Yes." "So, since energy cannot be created or destroyed, the energy within this mortal body was here before our physical bodies came to be, and will continue to be here when our bodies are not, yes?" This put a thinking expression on her face. I continued, "When you strip away the religion and mysticism and take it down to the bear bones, could it be that the spirits of our loved ones are simply the energy that was once contained within their mortal bodies?"
This was an idea my unbelieving friend could wrap her brain around ~ a less fantastical concept of the afterlife, but still not one that discounted the idea of Heaven. God used what science calls energy to create His universe, and continues to use energy to govern it. Maybe the physicality of His angels is too pure for our mortal minds to comprehend, so He sends them to us in a more subtle form ~ a feeling, an awareness that someone is with us, watching us, guiding us. Is it coincidence that Christians believe that God calls us home to Him to move us to a greater "work"? Maybe this movement of energy is God's way of allowing the heavenly beings to work within the parameters that govern our earthly existence. Who's to say? But does it get one thinking?
I have little doubt that every person who reads this blog will see it differently. The self-righteous zealot or ultra-conservative Christian will probably be indignant, maybe even angry, for how dare I , as a Christian, try to suggest anything that isn't verbatim from the Bible. Someone on the fence may start the wheels of their mind turning. But the true believer will read this and think, "That's an interesting take," and be otherwise unaffected, because he doesn't need a scientific understanding to have faith, nor will any scientific rebuttal shake it.
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