Going to heaven

I once overheard a child say, "I hope I go to heaven."  It is a wonderful thing to hear, especially from a child.  I am sure that most adults hold the same sentiment, but the thought occurred to me, do they understand what this means?
You have to begin with getting a definition of heaven.  What do they think heaven is?  From where does their definition of heaven come?  Also, from where do they obtain the concept of heaven?  From Christianity? From Islam?  From Mormonism?  Etc, etc.  Unfortunately, in many cases, heaven is a self defined concept, fabricated from one's imagination.  Obviously, a self created fantasy land doesn't really do anyone any good.  If one wants to base a belief in heaven from Christianity (for example), one needs to actually understand then what that looks like, from an authoritative source.
Heaven, in Christian terms, is not a mere amplification of worldly pleasure.  Heaven is an eternity in immediate, constant communion with the three persons of the Trinity.  Absolute love, absolute perfection, complete and perfect sinlessness in perfect harmony with God and man.  Like a historic church, right communion with God takes place in right communion with others, it is never "just Jesus and me".  Just as God has perfect communion in himself as three persons, we too can have perfect communion when that communion is between us, God and others.
In the same manner, if someone is looking forward to an Islamic paradise, that definition should come from the Koran, not the imagination.  So too with Mormonism or any other.
My point is this: if someone is looking forward to a Christian heaven, then that heaven is defined by the church.  If someone does not desire to live a Christian life, if someone does not love to be part of a Christian congregation, then they will not love a Christian heaven.

Doing something

They longer i live, the more depressing it becomes to live in the US.  There is so much sin, depravity, misdirection, deception and selfishness, not just in myself but in culture at large, that the idea of "doing something", ever increasingly looms large.
But the big question is, what?  How we answer that reveals what we believe is important, feasible and effective.  Unfortunately, far too many people think that politics is the answer.  Politics had its place, but redeeming culture is not its place. 
We may be in for a really rough ride over these next few years.  We will probably have to live through what we have sown.

Fantasy

I just watched a very good but short video on the place and form of emotions in the life of the Christian (see here).  Fr. Maxym noted that in the gospels when we see Jesus, we see him with emotions, but emotions that are perfectly balanced, controlled and connected with reality.  In Jesus, we see no fantasy.  Jesus' being and action are one.
This raises some questions in my mind about the place of fantasy in the life of the Christian.  Is it ever appropriate for the Christian to spend time thinking about that which is not real?  It is a thought steam that I need to spend some time considering and working through.  At this point, I don't have an answer, but I suspect that the answer is "no". 
What about potential reality? Possibly.  What about sinful fantasy? Obviously not.  I don't believe this question has anything to do with ruminating on future goals and plans, but even these should not preoccupy us in a way that distracts us from present reality and present responsibilities.  We really should be focused on loving those in our immediate reality and dealing with our own immediate sins.
As Paul says, "...while it is still called today, repent".

Exclusivity

Christianity is, by definition, exclusive.  This simply means that when Jesus taught us that he is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through him, that is exactly what that means.  One cannot be an active Buddhist and inherit eternal life.  One cannot be an self conscious, functioning Muslim and be part of the body of Christ.
I believe it is pretty well understood and embraced that one is either a Christian or they are not.  There is no middle ground.
There is caveat though.  God sends no one to hell.  When one is striving to serve God, to love neighbor and to purify the soul, God happily, joyfully and passionately helps us and embraces us.  This is not to say that "once saved, always saved", our salvation is synergistic, in other words, we are responsible to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. And God is faithful to help us.
This caveat is all about the love of God, working with people, where they are.  The ten year old child growing up in communist China, who had never heard the gospel, could still be seeking after God with his inherent "made in the image of God" soul.  And God will accept that faithfulness.
It is the person who, though they may be nice, is deliberately rejecting the grace of God and only seeks to be their own God is the one who goes to hell, on their own choice.  The one who hates/ignores God during life will not want to be with him for eternity.

Anticipating heavenly delight

It is far too easy to become distracted by the large number of shiny things in our present culture and forget, even momentarily, about the end goal of our life.  When we push aside all of the dross, the distractions, the silly entertainment and the many, many responsibilities (legitimate or not), we have to ask ourselves what is really important.  We answer that question every day by the things we spend our time doing and thinking about.  To where do our minds go when we are not occupied with the things necessary?  What do we love? There is a very long eternity ahead of us and that eternity will be formed by the way we shape our souls now, every day, every moment.
Like concrete, the things we do, say and think, shape us into what we will be for eternity.  Once that concrete is set, there is (practically speaking) no changing it.  Obviously, we can and should repent at any time, but the older we become, the longer we act, say and think, the more we will become like.

Responsibility

In contrast to the seemingly fatalistic mindset of Calvinism, man has always been responsible to pursue holiness and reject the sinful passions.  Our sanctification is our responsibility but we can only achieve holiness with the help of God.  God had given us tools to do so.  These are found in the church, namely: baptism, chrismation, repentance and the Eucharist. Sanctification is the way, holiness is the goal.  We were made to be like Christ, it is our sinful inclinations, our laziness and our willingness to to follow the wickedness of the culture around us that prevents us from being so.

Thoughts on judgment

When we make a judgment on anything, ie, the legitimacy of an argument, the value of someone's word, an explanation we hear, an interpretation of an historical event or just about anything else, what criteria are we using? It seems to me that most people would appeal to "common sense", "public opinion", or "that's how we have always done it". 
But if we give this much thought, we can see just how shaky this ground is.  Do any of us, for example, have enough understanding of economic theory to validate or critique the position promoted by any one particular presidential candidate?  Do any of us have clear understanding in the field of medical ethics or even medicine in general to argue questions about euthanasia, abortion or GMO's?
In addition to these, how many of us have a good understanding on history and the mistakes that have been made in the past?  Enough to see those errors being made again, with just slightly different circumstances or details?
I am not going to offer an opinion or answer to this.  I merely wanted to bring up the thought and ask, ultimately, to whom do we look for answers and guidance, and why.  I am afraid that ultimately, the final authority we choose is ourselves.  When it comes down to it, we choose the answer that seems best to us, when honestly, we have the smallest and least informed grasp on topic x, y or z.  Who is our final authority?