The loss of life at Gettysburg and Debby’s comment got me thinking. About 2 million individuals die every week these days — around 100 million a year. How does heaven deal with processing all those souls?
No really, are there any theological constructs about how this is managed?
“Faith is believing what you know ain’t so.”
— Mark Twain
I’m thinkin’ Heeleys.
One step up and two glides over from Helleys…
‘Cause I really hope there’s a bigger percentage goin’ into hell faster.
😉
I am not a physicist, so it’s difficult for me to put into words that anyone else can understand. But here’s an attempt, however paltry:
“The Law of Conservation of Energy states that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can change its form. The total quantity of matter and energy available in the universe is a fixed amount and never any more or less.”
Physicists say we are made of atoms, but atoms are composed almost entirely of empty space. In the movie, Mindwalk, a physicist played by Liv Ullmann, a politician played by Sam Waterston, and a poet played by John Heard, have a lengthy discussion about quantum physics. In a nutshell, here’s how she explains it to them (paraphrased, but in quotes for clarity between her voice vs. mine): “If an orange was blown up to the size of Earth, all the atoms inside would be the size of cherries. If these cherries (atoms) would be blown up to a large island, the matter it contains would be less than a small pebble, and the electrons would be the size of a grain of sand. [She also explains that] those electrons would be bouncing around without patterns, only ‘tendencies’ that cannot be predicted.”
Thus, on some level [it can be argued], all matter is an illusion that requires an observer in order to exist.
It’s oversimplifying on a grand scale, but we do not cease to exist, we just get recycled, or rearranged, over and over into new configurations, as recognized by the required observer. Perhaps that “observer” is our consciousness, whether it be individual, collective, and/or that of an original Creator.
Who knows, maybe one of those kids who died in Viet Nam (or the scion of one from Gettysburg) could have figured it out for all of us, and explained it so we could understand, once and for all.
The stuff we are made of gets recycled or rearranged over and over into new configurations, but we are more than the sum of our parts.
As to what happens to that which in some way makes us who we are, who can really know? As the lyrics from Nickel Creek’s When in Rome from Why Must The Fire Die? state;
Where can a dead man go?
The question with an answer
Only dead men know.
Whatever you say, but I was simply addressing the fact that many people believe that heaven is an actual place and that those who get there will rejoin their bodies at some point.
So I was just wondering if anyone knew how theologians have dealt with that — I mean a billion souls every decade and first thing you know you’re talking Atlanta Airport type crowds.
Is there a waiting room in heaven? That sounds like the setup for a good joke.
Actually, I agree with Debby.
While I agree with Debby, she still hasn’t answered the question. But, she is on the right path! The answer is contained in the idea of “We are nothing more than energy”.
When I thought about responding to this thread the phrase, ‘In my fathers house there are many mansions’ came to mind. (Surely enough to fit a few billion souls 🙂 ).
I will provide a link that explains this concept better than I can. Try not to get hung up on the name.
http://www.askrealjesus.com/F_LEASTKNOW/manymansions.html
While I have a problem with anything that says, “I am God or Jesus”, the information may still be valid.
To make it simple for my mind, I think of the world as a really good virtual reality game called, “Life on Earth”. And YOU are the star!