Recently, there have been a number of books and films that claim to represent the true experience of someone who has visited heaven but returned to earthly life. And many of these accounts have elements in common.
Bright white light and vibrant colors are common. Likewise, a sense of peace and comfort is common. Frequently, those who claim such an experience will reveal that they had no desire to return to their earthly life.
Yet, no two descriptions are totally identical. This might cause us to question – is heaven a “place,” or a state of existence?
A combination of logic and science may suggest an answer.
Those of us who have had no such experience can only identify with these descriptions by comparing them to our own life’s observations. An understanding of the nature of our own sensory input and the interpretation of that input, may be the key.
Our science has taught us that the light spectrum we see with our eyes is limited. Infrared, ultraviolet light and x-rays lie outside the spectrum that our eyes can detect. We have developed instruments that can detect those light frequencies and convert them into images we can observe.
There are also sounds that exist at frequencies our ears cannot detect and odors that our dogs can smell that we cannot.
Our logic kicks in and makes us realize that, just because we cannot detect something with our senses, does not mean that it doesn’t exist. In fact, our science has enabled us to expand our abilities – to a point. It has enabled us to prove the existence of aspects of our world that we don’t directly experience.
So, where does heaven fit into this equation?
Armed with this scientific understanding, we can conceive of heaven being a state of existence that lies outside of our ability to experience it.
Logically, we realize that, before the technology was developed, mankind was totally unaware of wavelengths of light we could not see or sounds we could not hear.So, it is completely possible that there are states of existence we have yet developed the ability to detect.
We are also handicapped by our language and vocabulary of descriptive terms. When we hear of someone describing their visit to heaven in terms of vibrant colors, we automatically translate that thought into a vision we can imagine, based on our own experience. We might imagine an intensity of color, but we cannot visualize colors we have never seen.
When we speak of “life after death,” we are constricted by our vocabulary and definitions. A better description might be “existence after death,” but we are once again handicapped by our inability to fully comprehend what the term “existence” really means outside of our limited experience.
We might compare our earthly existence to that of a horse wearing blinders that prevents the animal from being distracted by his surroundings – he can only see what is directly in front of him. Perhaps our earthly existence includes our own version of blinders. Perhaps we are surrounded by a heavenly existence that occupies a state of being we cannot see.
Is heaven a place or a state of existence?
Perhaps it is both, and it is only in death that we can shed those blinders and finally see the wonders of God’s universe.
No wonder people don’t want to come back.