78 The final class

We're finished now with our Monday night Outfitters class "What We Believe: A Study of Key Christian Teachings," and the final class was on--final things. After death, and end times. As in the other nine classes, we learned that Christians don't agree on much of this topic either. Christians generally seem to agree that in heaven, there will be no pain or suffering or tears, and we'll have indestructable, resurrected physical bodies, different and changed from what we have today, but Jesus' resurrection points the way.

So I was thinking. I have the little book, 14,000 things to be happy about by Barbara Ann Kipfer. Just about that entire list won't be necessary in heaven. We'll be happy about something else--being in God's presence. A lot on the list is food, or food related, or celebrations that use food. I can't imagine that our resurrected bodies will need food, because food presently nourishes a corruptible body, and much of it is disposed of as waste. Some items on the list are about visiting or being at earthly places, a city, a lake, or a place of business, so we won't need that. Entertainment, wealth, status, ethnicity, relationships--none of those concepts is going to be terribly useful when everything is perfect in God's presence.

Think about it--p.350-351.

Benton Harbor, MI

supper salads

sunlight infusing the atmosphere

window shopping in the fall

cooling off at the pool

strawberry-frosted doughnuts

watching a plant grow

identifying wildflowers or birds

dark wood floors warmed by Oriental rugs

Although we live in a fallen world, there are thousands of things in it still good and wonderful--we just better not get too attached, because we won't be needing them.