By Rev. Jeffrey O. Smith
What is it like to live to eternity? Does it ever get boring? I remember being concerned about this as a child. I was concerned because I also remember feeling bored and asking my parents for ideas of something to do (the usual unhelpful response was “Go outside.”). But really, do spiritual beings get bored after a thousand, a million, or a billion years?
From our New Church teachings, we learn that there is no end to the fun and delights that we get to experience in heaven. There’s no such thing as getting tired of life, and there’s no such thing as boredom. Every day that you wake up in heaven you look forward to the things you will do and experience.
What kinds of things do you get to do in heaven? Well, to put it simply, you get to do anything you want. Well, wait, does that mean I can go and hurt someone if I want to? The answer to this question is that angels are in heaven because they love helping the people around them and obeying the Lord. They want to take care of people and make their communities better. So, angels get to do whatever they want to do, but what they want to do is love their neighbor and the Lord. So, heaven is a place where you get to do whatever you want to do. This also supports the idea that eternity isn’t boring.
And in a person’s experience, what does eternity feel like? Well, it feels like today. It feels like the present when we aren’t dwelling on the past or worried about the future. There’s no countdown to a future “date,” and there’s no counting up from a past anchor point. Each day is lived as it comes, again, doing what a person likes. There are jobs, recreation, vacations, picnics and sports—all the basic stuff that we do here in this life.
It’s important to contrast heaven—where people who want to love the Lord and their neighbor go —with hell—where people go who want to love themselves and put possessions over people. People who choose to go to hell don’t get to do whatever they want. Selfishly motivated people in hell are restrained from hurting others, and additionally, material possessions in a spiritual realm just aren’t very satisfying. Although “time” in hell drags on, it’s better than being in heaven where a bunch of goody-goods are following the rules and looking out for others.
So, what’s eternity like? Well, it really depends where you go in the afterlife. It can be a real drag if you go to the wrong place. But in the right place, you’ll have the time of your life, every single day.