Bruce Charlton has been writing recently in his usual illuminating style about the love of God and this set me thinking because, in a way, this is the only important question for the whole of life. Love of God, the intuitive recognition of and opening up of the heart to our Creator, is the key to everything.
Here is a paradox. You must be virtuous to get to heaven but the virtuous man does not go to heaven. All civilisations worthy of the name acknowledge the law which is right behaviour or what C.S. Lewis in his short but important work The Abolition of Man called the Tao. This is the correct way to act with regard to the gods, the universe and one's fellow man. Details may alter but the essentials are remarkably similar everywhere. And yet this is not enough. Observing the 10 Commandments will not get you to heaven. The Pharisees do not go to heaven and this is true even of the good Pharisees not just the ones who observe the letter of the law but neglect its spirit.
The only thing that will get you to heaven is the love of God. Nothing you can do, nothing you can think, no belief you have will get you to heaven but handing yourself over to God in absolute faith and trust and love will. A good person is still himself but you can only enter heaven when you give yourself to God, empty yourself of self and are filled with love for your Creator. That is because this love is the only thing that will cure the stain of ego that blocks your entry to heaven.
Good people do not go to heaven. Consider that for a moment.
Don't think this is an impossible task. God is always there, waiting to respond to any overture we might make. Even a little attempt to love on our part. All we have to do is turn towards him in truth and love and he will respond. There will still remain much work to be done because the ego self, the swollen self-regarding me, is very powerful but once love for God has risen in our heart then we are facing in the right direction. In fact, even the recognition that we lack this love and the sincere desire to acquire it is an important first step in the purification of the self and its preparation for eventual entry into the Kingdom of Heaven.
I'll tell you the reason for this. It's just common sense really. Love of God shows that you actually recognise and want what heaven is. If you don't even want it, how can you expect to go there?
5 comments:
God can figure out who goes where.
"A good person is still himself but you can only enter heaven when you give yourself to God, empty yourself of self and are filled with love for your Creator."
I agree with the first and last part of this sentence, and maybe I'm misunderstanding you here, but I'm not sure about 'emptying yourself of self'. Not entirely at least. If I am nothing but a vessel for God than who am I really? I would hope that God cuts from me any branches that don't bear good fruit, and casts them into the fire (something I often pray for). But if there's any good in me at all, my hope is that He will plant and nourish those branches so that my good fruits can grow and multiply.
That's the trouble with the word 'self' I really just meant ego or self-love not your complete individuality. That, after all, is what God loves in us. This is a traditional teaching and was demonstrated at the crucifixion which was a kind of outer representation of an inner spiritual journey that we all must take eventually if we wish to be spiritually resurrected. "Take up the cross and follow me"
William,
I had an intense spell of hatred for God when I learned one of the vices I really enjoyed was something that deeply offended Him. I'm approaching this from a Catholic perspective, so this means that in engaging in these vices, I risk eternal damnation.
This period of hatred led to some soul searching. In my mind, one of the refuges I took was to "edit" God into a God who accepted whatever I accepted. But such a God is really an idol, no different than Baal or any of the other pagan deities. I had already criticised that viewpoint on liberals, but now had to apply it to myself.
What made me come around was that as my Creator and Father, He knows me infinitely more than I know myself so whatever He proscribes is ultimately for my own benefit. I realized my hatred stemmed from pride, and once that was put away, I was free to Love again.
It sounds as though you learnt a good lesson there, Ingemar. All credit to you because it's hard to face up to one's faults and accept that God really does know us better than we know ourselves and that what he wants for us is what is best for us.
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