there and back ... or here all along

a few weeks ago in systematics we talked about heaven and hell and whether they were real and if they were what they were like (a place in the sky/below the ground, some other universe, a recreation of this place, etc.).  one of the things that came up for me was that a lot of folks i know don't necessarily believe in hell as a place you could go when you die (or if they do, they don't think anybody actually ends up there), but there is a lot of support for the concept of "hell on earth." 

soldiers have talked about it for years, being in the trenches, in the fighting as being hell on earth.  queerfolk have talked about living closeted in an extremely oppressive context as hell on earth.  people in abusive relationships have talked about hell on earth.  especially if the understanding of hell is a place without god, children who are victims of neglect can know hell on earth.  so, while i don't necessarily believe in hell as a place of fire and brimstone where people could end up when they die, i do believe in hell as something that can (and does) happen here and now in our lives.

but what about heaven?  general consensus seems to dictate that heaven is a place where "good" people go when they die, a place in the sky, a place with god always, a new jerusalem, any number of things.  but what if neither heaven nor hell is that kind of a place?  what if heaven is also a place on earth?  when we got into that line of thinking in class, our ta, gretchen, called "heaven on earth" moments kairos moments. 

kairos is one of two words for time in greek, the other is chronos.  chronos means time in the sense of a clock or calendar; it's the primary way that we refer to time here in the us.  kairos, on the other hand, means time as in god's time.  the fulfillment of god's time. kairos is transcendent.  it occurs where/when god comes and lifts up.  this understanding connects with heaven as the place resurrection happens.

heaven is not a place far away (though it could be that too), heaven is the kairos moments of life; the resurrection moments.  this means, also, that resurrection is not just something that happens after we take our last breath.  resurrection happens here and now. 

heaven on earth is the peace that comes in a community gathered to celebrate and rejoice in god's work calling us together.  heaven on earth is the feeling of wholeness that comes from being told, you--the whole you--are called to ministry and your gifts are various and diverse and your queerness is a gift for ministry!  heaven on earth is the sunset over the mountain tops after as you sit watching and talking with a dearly beloved. 

heaven on earth is the moment on easter morning as the sun is rising where i am 100% certain that christ is risen and any moment all the dead will rise to walk the streets of life!  heaven on earth is when you hear, feel, taste god calling you into wholeness, into a vocation.  heaven on earth is that feeling in parker palmer's definition of vocation as "This is something I can't not do, for reasons I'm unable to explain to anyone else and don't fully understand myself but that are nonetheless compelling." 

heaven on earth is the moment the hell of the closet, the trenches, the isolation, the despair leaves and your chest, which has been so bound and restricted by the tightness of stress and anxiety and depression, loosens as you begin to breathe again the deep, full breaths of freedom and love.  heaven on earth is when that hug you've been needing, but have been unable to ask for, is given and tears flow and you are held in loving arms. 


i think that many times heaven on earth comes soon after escape from hell on earth.  it reminds me of giving birth (or what little i know of it).  from what i know the act of giving birth is like sitting on a stick of dynamite--that seems like hell if i ever knew it--and yet in the moments after giving birth, the first glimpses and sounds and feelings of new life can come heaven on earth.  the way to truly escape the hell on earth moments is with heaven on earth--kairos.


what is your hell on earth?  what is your heaven on earth?