The Kingdom of Heaven is....

The Kingdom of Heaven is non-existent, well for me anyway. This is simply because I am not yet dead.
I was musing on a statement made at the pub tonight (Ash Wedensday) about the Kingdom of Heaven and how can it be a single Kingdom when everyone's idea of Heaven must be something different. In a typical 20-something manner I quoted The Simpsons to make my point, but that's besides the matter.
If God is good and loves us, He would want us to be happy for all eternity, providing we were not complete assholes in life. Perhaps then life is God's way of finding out what it is that makes us happy.
I mean look around, there is so much to be happy about, plants, Shakespeare, little mutt-dogs...Maybe life isn't a test, maybe God is just trying to figure out what it is that makes each individual happy.
This musing effectivly reduces the meaning of life to 'being happy'. It also makes the act of giving happiness the most religious aspect of life. Simply smiling at a stranger and wishing them a good afternoon is akin to understanding God. After all if His main goal is our happiness then our goal as good (fill in demonation here) should be to make others happy. By making others happy we are helping them design their own Kingdom of Heaven.
So far God knows my soul loves company and good books, so I am sure my Heaven will be stocked with friends and good literature. With a-little luck He has realized that I hate spiders.
Of course this leaves the problem of those who are not happy. These fall into 3 catogories (I think). Those who are unhappy because of others (war torn countries make noone happy), those without enough time to learn (died very young) and those who choose to brood (a good number of my exes). I would like to think that a God who desires our happiness would give more chances to these souls. I do not believe that God directialy puts His hand in nature, He does not cause disease and war, and so He has no control over the miseries that may befall one of His creations.

Ok so thats my answer to the question, I thought about it on the long drive home. Hope yall enjoyed.

Renee'

P.S. I am writing this lying in bed, joined only by my little mutt-dog Bugsy. He is currently chasing his tail. I think my Heaven will have little dogs chasing their tails too.

I wish I was privvy to that discussion. I had to leave due to a headache (but will be back!).

I guess this is one aspect of my own personal theory about heaven and hell: both are accessible here in this existence, in the here and now. And I suppose the concept of faith through deeds, not simply faith alone, is part of the theology to which I subscribe. Quakerish, I suppose. Personally, it is my hope that when I pass away, there is a stillness, a darkness, a nothingness, an eternal sleep as it were. Life is complicated enough without worrying about what lies beyond.

IMHO, when one employs the Golden Rule or the Second Commandment, there is a living, breathing representation of God in that interaction. This is the basis of my life. One thing I have discovered though, there are predators in our midst who view kindness and generosity as a weakness to exploit, so it IS challenging to obey the Golden Rule & Second Commandment, what with the human condition being what it is.

Though I may have a potty mouth, I know what my intentions are, and hope that if there is a hereafter, that I will be judged not just on the things I've done and the things I've intentionally NOT done, but also the INTENT of my actions.

Renee, your idea of heaven brought a smile to my face!

Usually Jesus says "the kingdom of heaven is like..." And then he offers a parable.

he also says that it is near. Which is more the point. Although Jesus was in a world where the supernatural seemed very present, it is equally plausible that he is directing us to look around at where we find heaven on earth. To interpret "kingdom of heaven" as literal in every case doesn't do the poetry justice. The phrase draws us our of our fairly dull senses and into the real in a very different way.

The ways JC uses to describe it: they are meant to be evocative and inviting rather than the final word. And one way to end the discussion is to presume it is merely about the after life or the supernatural. Instead, maybe the kingdom of heaven is perhaps what is truly beautiful in the midst of the common and ugly. A pearl of great price.