by Selina Kyle

Created on: September 13, 2007   Last Updated: January 23, 2010

Asking this question eludes to the idea that Heaven is the reward for being good. That were it not for the promise of ending up in Heaven, people wouldn't be good because they'd have no reason to be. The question is arbitrary at best and there truly is no right or wrong answer. When I was young I wondered as I sat in church what would have happened to me had I been born in a place where Christianity wasn't the mainstream religion. What would have happened to me had I been raised Buddhist? I may have spent much of my time in meditation and might have been brought up to see the sacred in all things, feel the sacred in every action, from taking a walk to making tea. I could have spent every moment living spiritually, open to the sacred in all living things, every day, not just on Sunday. However, as I sat in the cold, hard church pew I also wondered at the fact that even if I had lived that spiritual life in the mountains of Tibet, would I burn in the fiery pits of hell for all eternity just because of geography? I asked myself this question a lot growing up.

Due in large part to having many different foster parents, I was exposed to differing interpretations of what it meant to be religious or spiritual. On top of that, I also always had a very curious nature. I can't believe that Heaven is only for people of a certain denomination, and if it is, they can have it and I'm glad not to go, thank you very much. I've met the people who think they're going to heaven. I've met the people who assume that by virtue of showing up on Sunday they will be greeted at the pearly gates by open armed harp strumming angels. I've also met the people who put the "mental" into fundamental and take the fun out of everything. Heaven? I have no idea about that, but I won't live my life the way I see people who are waiting to crash the pearly gates live theirs.

Many live in fear, fear of the opposite, fear of hell. They deprive themselves of anything enjoyable in life because they're afraid it might be construed by the heavenly host as a sin. Still others live a false life, committing heinous acts all week long presuming they'll be absolved on Sunday. Many of the first type, having made so many sacrifices in their lives, become judgmental, there's that word again, mental, and once again, it's completely appropriate. The second type can be just as frightening though. To believe that they can do anything they want all week then show up on Sunday and all will be well is just a shortcut

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