What Might

Heaven Be
Like?
An essay by
Norman E. Sindlinger
Copyright 2014 by Norman E. Sindlinger.
All rights reserved.


What Might Heaven Be Like?
An Essay
s there any point, value or purpose in thinking
about or postulating what the unknowable might
actually be like? As curious, sentient human beings
using only our highly developed intellect and language
skills, we engage in abstract thinking about all
manner of things that were once unknowable.
With our equally highly developed sense of con-
sciousness and awareness of self, that is perhaps
unique to we humans alone, such abstract thinking
sometimes leads to profound discovery and under-
standing.
Eventual proof of life after death in a place called
heaven may always remain elusive. For several quite
practical reasons; however, an unshakable belief in
everlasting life is exceptionally valuable during our
I
Norman E. Sindlinger What Might Heaven Be Like? | 3
earth livesbeyond purely religious and biblical
teaching and beliefs.
Perhaps nothing is more commonly experienced, in
life on earth, than the inevitability of eventual death.
As with humans, many intelligent animals experience
an intense sense of loss when death occurs of a mate
or child. Is it any wonder then that with our loss and
attendant grief we long to become reunited with those
whom we loved or had great affection or admiration
for here on earth?
At such moments, and even for a lifetime for many, an
intense feeling often develops that a spouse, parent,
child or close friend remains forever near watching
over them. What an infinitesimally small step from
there to a desire or intense belief of eventual reuniting
in a place known to so many as heaven.
If a strong belief in eventual reuniting in heaven, with
an everlasting afterlife, mitigates grief and comforts
those still living, isnt it at the very least a most
powerful course of alternative therapy?
To the atheist or fervent non-believer who decries the
very concept of everlasting life, of heaven or God
Himself, ask what possible benefits or comfort to the
grieving is derived from their non-belief. Is the
concept of reunited, everlasting life in heaven, any less
elusive than the powerful earthly bonding to another
Norman E. Sindlinger What Might Heaven Be Like? | 4
that causes intense longing and grief itself when the
bond is broken in death?
For any society, group, family or couple to live in
harmony, they must believe that all manner of
systems and services will be available when needed,
and that direct or implied pledges and promises will
be honored when just or reasonable. In our daily lives
and throughout our lifetimes we entrust our well
being and often even our lives to many others because
we believe for the most part in their fundamental
honesty, integrity and skills. Is it any wonder then
that so many individuals throughout the world so
willingly believe with deep conviction in God and His
everlasting Kingdom.
Many of us, if indeed not most of us, are faced with
turning points in our lives wherein our entire belief
system hangs in the balance; to be changed positively
or negatively or simply to be greatly reinforced. For
some it may occur early in life, while for others it may
occur in their twilight years when the inevitability of
death is fully realized.
Whether life and death issues are faced in illness or
trauma or in natural passing with age, death is the
great equalizer for it will happen to all whether
ordinary, rich or famous, happy or sad and fulfilled or
unfulfilled.
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My first such turning point came when I was twenty-
four and less than a month past my first wedding
anniversary. Nine hours after my wife Jacqueline gave
birth to our first daughter, following an unusually
long, difficult labor, our daughter Laura died.
Without any doubt or delay I told Jackie that our
Laura was now an angel in heaven. I still believe that
even more firmly following Jackie's death 49 years
later. My only comfort then and now comes from my
unshakable belief that I will be with them again in
God's Heaven for all eternity. I've spent many hours
over the years contemplating what it will be like when
my time comes to be reunited with them.
I believe that fate has a role to play at times, but I do
not believe in an all inclusive, unchangeable
predestination. I have never believed that God
intervenes in all aspects of earthly life, or that He
deliberately took our Laura from us after her so brief
earth life.
I do believe, without a moments doubt, that God looks
with special favor on the earth's true innocents, who
never had time to develop memories or experiences of
their own. I believe God made our Laura and others
like her one of his guardian angels. I also believe that
God gave Laura her everlasting life at that magical age
of four or five, so that Jackie and I will always have
her to love and care for forever. I also believe he gave
Norman E. Sindlinger What Might Heaven Be Like? | 6
Laura our shared childhood memories for her very
own. Two events several years apart convinced Jackie
and me that Laura was indeed our guardian angel as
well as God's.
The first event occurred while Jackie and I were
walking along a hall, decorated with framed prints, for
a consultation with an oncologist regarding an initial
positive test for stomach cancer.
As we approached the doctors office Jackie suddenly
stopped, audibly gasped while staring at a large print
of a young girl in a garden.
Thats our Laura in the picture, Norman, exclaimed
Jackie with excitement. It has to be her. She looks
just like me when I was four years old.
The little girls body and profile in the painting was
indeed a remarkable likeness of photographs I had
seen of Jackie at the probable age of four.
Norman, I know shes watching over us. I can almost
hear her telling me that your bone marrow test is
going to confirm that you dont have cancer. I just
know it.
The nurse who had been leading us to the doctors
office, stopped turned to face us and said, The doctor
is waiting for you.
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As I grasped Jackies hand, she was trembling with
excitement as she said, June Dudley is the artists
name. We have to find out if a copy of the print is still
available. I just know that is Laura in the garden and
everything is going to be okay now.
Several days later the bone marrow test came back
negative. In the meantime we learned that June
Dudley was a very well know, prolific artist, and that
her print of the painting Grandmothers Garden was
still available. We immediately ordered our copy.
A number of years later, following Jackies release
from the hospital after a serious illness, we were
sitting on a bench at the Manasquan inlet watching
the boats return from the days ocean fishing. Jackie
was quite depressed and unusually silent as a young
girl approached us holding the hand of her probable
grandmother.
Jackie suddenly became transfixed as the young girl
and her probable grandmother were about 20 feet
away from us. We both realized at the same instant
the remarkable resemblance of the young girl to
another photograph of Jackie, at about the same age,
walking on a boardwalk with her grandmother.
Neither of us moved or said anything when the young
girl suddenly stopped, stared directly at Jackie and
began yelling, Mommie. Mommie. Mommie.
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The young girl pulled hard against her grandmothers
hand trying to reach Jackie. The grandmother quickly
turned around and began walking away pulling the
little girl along who stumbled along half turned to
stare at Jackie while she kept calling out, Mommie.
Mommie.
Within seconds the little girl was out of our sight
hidden by parked cars along the inlet. Jackie and I
were both so startled that we delayed only a few
seconds more before jumping up from the bench to
find the little girl and her probable grandmother.
When we reached the sidewalk and had a clear view
they were gone.
We rushed along the walk looking into parked cars
along the way, but we were unable to find them. In
mere seconds from the time they were hidden by
parked cars, they had vanished.
We left the inlet soon afterward to drive home too
stunned to discuss what had just happened. Unlike
the excitement and joy of discovering the little girl in
the painting of Grandmothers Garden, we remained
silent and never discussed the incident. Weeks later,
Jackie too was gone.
More than ten years ago now, Jackie was given the
opportunity to see and hold Laura for the first time.
Now I am blessed to have two guardian angels
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watching over me. They sustain me with their
presence that I always feel during these years of
loneliness and long nights.
I am comforted that they are finally together, and I'm
certain that in heaven they don't feel my anguish;
because, I don't believe in heaven that there is any
sense of loss or regret, nor is their time linear as on
earth. I believe our separation will be for them as brief
as the passing of a single day.
I often wonder in some detail what Heaven will be like
beyond the overwhelming joy of our reunion. In
addition to all of my previous reasoning, I believe in
an afterlife because I believe in God, and because I
believe that He gave man, woman and child a soul
that is not destroyed by death if properly nurtured or
is truly innocent.
I also believe that the primary nurturing of ones soul
is through the act of a deeply committed love to at
least one other person or righteous cause. I believe
that souls so nurtured will live on after lifes journey
on earth ultimately comes to an end.
In Gods scheme of things, human life on planet earth
is a mere blink in time compared to the life of our sun
that provides the warmth and energy to sustain life on
this or any other planet with life in some possible far
off world. To me the concept of a soul with
Norman E. Sindlinger What Might Heaven Be Like? | 10
indestructible energy living on after death of the body
requires less of a leap than contemplating the
magnificent complexity of the universe and the body
of a single human being.
It seems less of a stretch to believe in the thoughts,
memories and energy of a human soul living on, than
it is to contemplate that it all began with a
singularitythat tiny speck of unimaginable, infinite
density holding all the energy and matter in our
universe, that would burst forth forming billions of
galaxies, each in turn containing billions of stars, and
an untold number of solar systems with orbiting
planets and moons.
The concept of nothingness preceding the Big Bang
of Gods creation is for me a far more difficult concept
to grasp than of an eternal soul. If all of this; then why
not heaven too?
If the concept of an everlasting soul and heaven is
only the creation of mans fertile imagination, but is
the glue that binds the fabric of religion to one of a
significant moral/value system, is that not in itself of
great value? For many it is a win/win situation. For
me heaven and an eternal soul are deeply held beliefs
based upon my personal experiences and thoughts,
and it sustains me for my remaining earth journey
without my beloved wife and daughter physically
beside me.
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I think that each soul must begin as an extension of
ones individual mind. Thoughts that once resided in a
physical brain as electro-chemical impulses, and
stored in neurons for living permanence, are
transformed at earth lifes end into pure energy that is
eternally indestructible, but subject to heavens
filtering. In heaven there can no longer be any
physical needs or strong negative emotions as in
earthly life.
I believe that being one with God in heaven means
that at least some of His knowledge of the future is
shared as it pertains to loved ones still on earth. As
mentioned earlier, I believe that there is no longer any
concept of linear time or linear memories. All that
being true, means that there is none of the moment to
moment, day to day, year to year anguish for those in
heaven watching over their loved ones on earth.
There is no concept of waiting for a rejoining of loved
ones. I do believe that God sits in judgment that is,
with one exception discussed later, not directly
condemnatory in that those entering heaven may do
so at varying levels of fulfillment and joy.
I do not believe in a hell as a place where someone is
subject to direct physical pain and suffering, as
typically conjectured throughout the ages, but rather a
state of being without full knowledge of heavens
glories. I do believe that there are permanent
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consequences for the most egregious acts while living.
I believe in the trinity of love, forgiveness and
appreciation as the essential qualities upon which God
must base His judgment of each individual. In reality
then, does it not become self judgment while alive on
earth, for these values form the foundation upon
which all joy is based?
For someone to experience true love, he or she must
also have in full measure empathy, devotion,
selflessness, understanding and sacrifice. True love
cannot exist without practicing the fine art of
forgiveness, and it is a fine art. It is easy for many to
overlook minor transgressions in a relationship once
they are taught the values of compromise and
accommodation to achieve basic harmony. It is quite
another matter to truly forgive major transgressions
or even grievous ones.
It is one thing to find them impossible to forget, for
we are subject to human frailties while on earth. One
should not regard forgiveness as only an act of
compassion, but rather as a stopping point at which
further rumination and thoughts of vengeance cease,
so that a relationship or life may continue and even
flourish. All too few people or nations cannot put the
past aside even if it absolutely guarantees that positive
change or accommodation will never be achieved.
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It is impossible to know and experience true joy
without being able to appreciate what God has given
so many of us, and it is indivisibly embedded in love
and forgiveness. If there is one single quality that
separates man and woman from beasts, it is our
awareness of the miracles surrounding us in our
universe, nature and our own bodies.
Man alone was given the twin gifts of intellect and
consciousness to appreciate the world God has given
us. The better we appreciate the finer qualities of
anything the more knowledgeable we become. With
knowledge comes the desire to understand even more
in a never ending quest to feel the pure joy of knowing
and appreciating the wonder of Gods universe.
How sensual might heaven be? I would think that
heaven is filled with sensuality, but in a different
sense than that of sex. I cannot imagine anything
more sensual than the conjoining of two souls, who
knew each other so well on earth separately, as when
they become one and there is no longer any need to
interpret what the other is thinking or feeling.
I recall well the excitement of first love, new love and
final love when merely brushing against each other
delivers waves of wondrous feelings. I recall the
feelings of deep warmth and contentment when my
wife and I of nearly fifty years held hands or stroked
each others cheek.
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Magnified many times over, that must be how it feels
in heaven to be with your love for eternity. Visual,
hearing and awareness senses will become so
heightened and refined that any scene from earth lives
will be recreated in exquisite detail and nuance.
Scenes from heaven and throughout the universe will
be experienced with sensuality as never before.
What will be remembered? Certainly all of the
moments of happiness and joy of a lifetime on earth
will be recalled at will, but not with the dim
remembrances of our earthly lives. Scenes will
actually be relived as long and as often as desired. The
moments of earthly sadness may be recalled through
heavenly filters with a depth of understanding
unknown when they originally occurred.
The darker memories will be viewed more abstractly
as lessons learned, of knowledge gainedfor trauma
and tragedy often prove enlightening; because, it was
at such times while living that we turned to
spirituality to pull us through.
May we learn in heaven? That is no doubt one of the
principal virtues of an everlasting life. In heaven it
should be possible to meet with anyone else who ever
lived, and exchange thoughts without language,
intellectual or cultural barriers. Gaining knowledge
and sharing experiences in such a way is never
ending, and for eternity a soul grows closer to God.
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In turn, such cumulative experience and knowledge
make God more powerful as He learns what his
ultimate creation is capable of achieving. I do not
believe that God, his universe and all those who dwell
within exist in a static state. I believe that this is
evolution as He intended it to be; always expanding
and never ending in an endless quest of perfection. If
heaven were to be reduced to a theme, in my
judgment it is the seeking of perfection in all things
large and small.
Perhaps the most difficult imagining of what heaven
might be like is that of what happens to the innocents
of earthly life? The truest innocents are those who
have been conceived and stillborn, those whose lives
were measured in mere hours, days, weeks or months
and then died before they could gather memories or
thoughts to call their own.
I also believe in the innocence of those who through
their infirmity were never able to reach true
awareness. I choose to believe that the innocents are
not simply discarded never to reach heaven. I choose
to believe that they become Gods favorite angels
precisely because of their innocence.
As angels or perhaps as God's special envoys to whom
he gives extraordinary gifts of empathy, compassion
and understanding so they may welcome, comfort and
offer love to those who never knew the joys of love in
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earthly life, or were abused or disenfranchised or
without hope.
But what place in heaven is there for the unloved,
disenfranchised, desperately poor, the physically or
mentally challenged or those so weakened from
hunger, disease, abuse or oppression that they
become stripped of all hope? Are they too treated as
innocents?
I believe that when they reach heaven and are freed
from the bondage of their earthly circumstances, God
grants each an unusual capacity to love one another,
gives each the health and intellect to know fulfillment
and the companionship of His special envoys.
Is heaven an instant utopia filled with nothing but
pleasurable moments without reason to strive for
anything? Based upon the diversity we see in each
other, in nature and the entire universe, I believe that
it is highly unlikely that heaven is confined to only one
level. That would be too sterile for God I think.
I believe He created man and woman to always strive
for betterment. Earth is the initial rough and tumble
arena that is often too harsh, too filled with suffering,
too unfair and too often unending cruelty. This is
mankinds environment where we first learn to feed,
clothe and protect ourselves and to love.
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This is where we learn the benefits of cooperative
behavior as a precursor to becoming civilized. This is
also where we retain the primitive brain-stem that
drives the destructiveness of envy and brute force to
take what others have by any means necessary.
I believe that the earthly curse of unbridled envy,
competition and survival of the fittest does not exist in
heaven. In heaven admiration replaces envy, and
striving for purity of thought, love and knowledge
replace competition. Just as there is no need of a
physical body in heaven, there is no need for that
troublesome relic of the earthly mindthe brain-
stem.
I believe that the driving force for attaining increasing
purity is love. I believe that the intensity of love and
degree of freedom from envy experienced on earth
directly influence the level each soul attains when
entering heaven; thus, there is significant incentive to
love, forgive, be as free of envy as humanly possible
and develop a strong faith while alive on earth. With
such a regimen, one does not have to wait for heaven
to achieve real contentment and be at peace.
I believe that it may be exceedingly difficult to
advance from one level to the next; because except for
the innocents, the desire for purity of thought and act
may require significant practice while on earth.
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Nurturing of the soul on earth is hard work initially,
but eases with time and practice.
In my concept of damnation, God does make
judgment based upon intolerable, egregious acts of
the once living, giving them the unalterable
knowledge that they may never advance, feel
compassion, experience love or have contact with any
other soul, including those most like them.
As mentioned previously, I belief earthly preparation
may be a prerequisite to retaining an unending desire
for the increased knowledge, purity of thought and
love of a higher level.
Absent this preparation, I believe that advancement to
a higher level may be quite difficult; because, with the
exception of those forever remaining alone and in the
first level, in heaven there is no pain, discomfort or
stigma felt for not advancing.
It would seem to require a possible, but enormous
leap of insight, to realize that something may be
missing or more beneficial when for all above the first
level, you are already experiencing the joys of
paradise.