If heaven is so much better, why do we cling so much to this life?

[BobCatholic]

I’m not sure about that. As strong as faith can be, death is still a big step -into the unknown. It would be wrong to want to cease existing-and death will always hold that over us as an uncertainty.

If life is a series of horrific sufferings, who wants to deal with that?

And how much faith is needed?

At the least, the horrific sufferings end. This assumes there is no afterlife, nothing afterwards - if we’re worm food.

If there is an afterlife:
If heaven, then the pleasant situation is a plus. A pleasant surprise. A bonus.
If hell, then they’re living life just like before. Nothing really changes.
If purgatory: same as hell for a while, then heaven.

This is a perverted version of “Pascal’s wager”

How many evil people were killing Christians while justifying it as “I’m sending them to heaven so they benefit!” Suicide (if not forbidden) could be justified in the same vein.

This is why suicide is forbidden. Otherwise, a lot of people would be offing themselves to get out of a life filled with horrific suffering.

 

[fhansen]

If life is a series of horrific sufferings, who wants to deal with that?

And how much faith is needed?

At the least, the horrific sufferings end. This assumes there is no afterlife, nothing afterwards - if we’re worm food.

If there is an afterlife:
If heaven, then the pleasant situation is a plus. A pleasant surprise. A bonus.
If hell, then they’re living life just like before. Nothing really changes.
If purgatory: same as hell for a while, then heaven.

This is a perverted version of “Pascal’s wager”

How many evil people were killing Christians while justifying it as “I’m sending them to heaven so they benefit!” Suicide (if not forbidden) could be justified in the same vein.

This is why suicide is forbidden. Otherwise, a lot of people would be offing themselves to get out of a life filled with horrific suffering.

Yes, and people do it either way. But I believe everyone has an innate desire and love for existence-but when the pain is great, physical or emotional, that desire can understandably be overridden by the desire to escape the pain. And everyone suffers to one degree or another here; this life will never completely satisfy us regardless. Just the pain of separation from God, and the total acceptance- love, peace, and pain-free existence in general that would accompany His presence-is suffering, relatively speaking. Only *He * can make living, eternally, worthwhile. Here we exist in a sort of half-way state between heaven and hell. Some, unfortunately, experience the evil of suffering more than others. All of us should end up developing a hunger and thirst for something better-much better, in any case.

 

[angelic06]

Salvete, omnes!

Here is a quick (or maybe not so quick) question for folks:

If we are told repeatedly in Sacred Scripture and elsewhere that heaven is to be so much better than this earthly life, then why do we cling so much to this life?

For instance, why do we seek medical treatment with the end goal being to live and not die if we are confident that we are in a state of grace and that we will, after death, be in a far better place? Why not just accept death, then, instead of clinging to life through medicine or other means?

Why, indeed, even put so much care into this life at all? Why consider at all of importance compared to the next? Is it not logical to care far more for the next life than for this one? Indeed, even God seems to consider our welfare in this life of pretty great importance, as He ascribes a high degree of sin and penalty for, say, taking the life of another. Should not the victim, if he be a Christian in a state of grace, be glad to have passed on to the next life and to have left this life behind, if the next is to such a great degree (perhaps beyond our comprehension) better than this one?

This next question may sound provocative, but, along with the above, it could theoretically be asked as well: Why, when a baby is stillborn or when it is even aborted do we care so much, since the babe is in a better place than this life anyway, free from all the fallenness of sin and other)?) imperfections in this life?

Another absurd question, I know, but, again, it could theoretically be asked in this context: Why is suicide, then, so bad?

Believe me, I am not asking these questions rhetorically, just using them to try and clarify this whole issue better.

Gratias.

We do not know for sure that unbaptized babies are “in a better place”. Instead, Catholic teaching is that we may have a reasonable hope that God will be merciful. But we cannot know for sure, which is why it is important for people to be baptized as soon as possible.

Now, as for your post in general. God created life and all natural things. As such, it is our duty to have respect for it. This also is my answer to your last question, “Why is suicide, then so bad?” (We will ignore cases of mental illness for now.)

I also draw your attention to the fact that according to Catholic teaching, our standing before God depends on how we treat ourselves and each other in this world.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

VI. The Necessity of Baptism

1257 The Lord himself affirms that Baptism is necessary for salvation.59 He also commands his disciples to proclaim the Gospel to all nations and to baptize them.60 Baptism is necessary for salvation for those to whom the Gospel has been proclaimed and who have had the possibility of asking for this sacrament.61 The Church does not know of any means other than Baptism that assures entry into eternal beatitude; this is why she takes care not to neglect the mission she has received from the Lord to see that all who can be baptized are “reborn of water and the Spirit.” God has bound salvation to the sacrament of Baptism, but he himself is not bound by his sacraments.

…(para. 1258-1260 redacted by me to draw your attention to these)…

1261 As regards children who have died without Baptism, the Church can only entrust them to the mercy of God, as she does in her funeral rites for them. Indeed, the great mercy of God who desires that all men should be saved, and Jesus’ tenderness toward children which caused him to say: "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them,"63 allow us to hope that there is a way of salvation for children who have died without Baptism. All the more urgent is the Church’s call not to prevent little children coming to Christ through the gift of holy Baptism.

 

[ericc]

Salvete, omnes!

Here is a quick (or maybe not so quick) question for folks:

If we are told repeatedly in Sacred Scripture and elsewhere that heaven is to be so much better than this earthly life, then why do we cling so much to this life?

For instance, why do we seek medical treatment with the end goal being to live and not die if we are confident that we are in a state of grace and that we will, after death, be in a far better place? Why not just accept death, then, instead of clinging to life through medicine or other means?

Why, indeed, even put so much care into this life at all? Why consider at all of importance compared to the next? Is it not logical to care far more for the next life than for this one? Indeed, even God seems to consider our welfare in this life of pretty great importance, as He ascribes a high degree of sin and penalty for, say, taking the life of another. Should not the victim, if he be a Christian in a state of grace, be glad to have passed on to the next life and to have left this life behind, if the next is to such a great degree (perhaps beyond our comprehension) better than this one?

This next question may sound provocative, but, along with the above, it could theoretically be asked as well: Why, when a baby is stillborn or when it is even aborted do we care so much, since the babe is in a better place than this life anyway, free from all the fallenness of sin and other)?) imperfections in this life?

Another absurd question, I know, but, again, it could theoretically be asked in this context: Why is suicide, then, so bad?

Believe me, I am not asking these questions rhetorically, just using them to try and clarify this whole issue better.

Gratias.

1. There is an inborn instinct to live. I believe that goes for all animals.
2. Parable of the talents. God gave us this life. We are supposed to make the best possible use of it for the glory of God. Prematurely terminating it is not making the best use of it. Not taking care of it is also not enhancing the best possible use of it. One can do great things for God when alive, I don’t think we are allowed or permitted to intervene much when we are dead. So we ought to maximise for God while we still can.

 

[GEddie]

I’ve often wondered this about Theists–especially when I see so many people here praying for a loved one not to die, or for themselves to be healed of a serious illness.

I would think a Believer would be very happy to go to this blissful heaven as quickly as possible!

.

Certainly you would see that when praying for a loved one not to die, the focus is on our own relationship to that person, not per se to their afterlife.

ICXC NIKA

 

[fhansen]

I’ve often wondered this about Theists–especially when I see so many people here praying for a loved one not to die, or for themselves to be healed of a serious illness.

I would think a Believer would be very happy to go to this blissful heaven as quickly as possible!

.

That’d be like saying there’s nothing to love and cherish in* this* life. The next life will always be an unknown-a promise we believe and trust in but have no direct knowledge of. *Everything *we actually know is here.

 

[JuanFlorencio]

Salvete, omnes!

Here is a quick (or maybe not so quick) question for folks:

If we are told repeatedly in Sacred Scripture and elsewhere that heaven is to be so much better than this earthly life, then why do we cling so much to this life?

For instance, why do we seek medical treatment with the end goal being to live and not die if we are confident that we are in a state of grace and that we will, after death, be in a far better place? Why not just accept death, then, instead of clinging to life through medicine or other means?

Why, indeed, even put so much care into this life at all? Why consider at all of importance compared to the next? Is it not logical to care far more for the next life than for this one? Indeed, even God seems to consider our welfare in this life of pretty great importance, as He ascribes a high degree of sin and penalty for, say, taking the life of another. Should not the victim, if he be a Christian in a state of grace, be glad to have passed on to the next life and to have left this life behind, if the next is to such a great degree (perhaps beyond our comprehension) better than this one?

This next question may sound provocative, but, along with the above, it could theoretically be asked as well: Why, when a baby is stillborn or when it is even aborted do we care so much, since the babe is in a better place than this life anyway, free from all the fallenness of sin and other)?) imperfections in this life?

Another absurd question, I know, but, again, it could theoretically be asked in this context: Why is suicide, then, so bad?

Believe me, I am not asking these questions rhetorically, just using them to try and clarify this whole issue better.

Gratias.

I was some years old already when I came to know about the Sacred Scripture. During those years I had established hundreds of relations with my surroundings. I wanted to preserve many of those relations as they were, improve many others, cancel some of them, and try and establish new ones. Our being is a kind of impetus which exercises its power over its surroundings and becomes gradually expanded day after day. We feel pain when one of our cherished relations is broken and lost, because our being is hurt and impoverished. We feel joy when our potency is increased by means of a new relation.

So, I possessed already a number of small pearls when I came to know about the Sacred Scripture. It has been a more or less long process. And one thing I loved more of the Sacred Scripture during my adolescence was Jesus’ parables; two of them in particular:

*“The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hidden in a field. Which a man having found, hid it, and for joy thereof goeth, and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
*

And so I knew that I had to look for the great pearl and, once found, sell my small ones and buy it. But what it all meant to me was that I had to transform my being thoroughly, which implied that I had to modify all the relations I had already established. In other words, I did not understand those beautiful parables as if I had to abandon this world as soon as possible, but in the sense that my being could be profoundly transformed and I had to start the part of the job that belonged to me right away. Well, the years have passed and I am still working on that. The words of our Lord, the young Rabbi of Nazareth, who spent 33 years in this world, obeying the will of His Father, make me think once and again: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me”, and those of His mother, the Virgin Mary: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word”.

 

[ffg]

Out of sight, out of mind. For most folks.

That’s why we cling to what we see.

I just find there to be too much evidence for a God to not believe.

If I was to give my certainty a level - 100%

If I was to grade my ability to live that certainty - 2%

If I was to analyze the difference, the only conclusion I could come up with that ends with me in Heaven - is a God who loves me.

Take care,

Mike

 

[Charlemagne_III]

Very simply, we cling so much to this life because God gave us the gift of this human life and he wants us to use it until we are ready to give it back to him in trade for another life.