What do we do in Heaven for eternity?

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Prodigal1984 said:
Is there sexual relations with your spouse in Heaven?
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Based on what Jesus says, probably not. Sex isn’t the only kind of pleasure though.
AlNg said:
This seems to promote selfishness and a selfish existence of pleasure.
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I cannot even begin to fathom how you arrived at that conclusion.

I take it then that you’re not Catholic? Your tag says Christian, so I’m going to assume non-Catholic. I’ll never understand the issue so many Protestant groups seem to have licit pleasures, it just makes no sense.

Pleasure is a positive thing, there is nothing evil about it. God desires us to have pleasures. HOWEVER, those pleasures must be within the proper bounds of the activity. Sex is intended to be pleasurable, and should be, but it also must take place within the proper context. Eating is pleasurable, but again, must be undertaken in the proper context and with proper moderation.

There is nothing selfish about engaging in licit pleasures.

In Heaven, we will experience the fullness of joy, a part of which is pleasure. Not in the sense of sexual gratification or something minuscule like that. That’s the best the world can come up with to describe pleasure. The pleasure we will find in God will far exceed any of the hollow echoes we experience here on Earth.
 
Yeah, it will. God is the source of all licit pleasure, so why wouldn’t it be?

I’m not saying that we’re going to go around eating and having sex and doing whatever else constitutes pleasure on Earth. I’m saying that our very existence will be pleasurable because we’ll be in the direct presence of God. That can be nothing other than pleasurable, joyful, blissful. All good thing!
 
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There are shared pleasures too. Say, a good meal with friends.

Some of us take pleasure in singing with others.
 
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ProdglArchitect said:
That can be nothing other than pleasurable, joyful, blissful. All good thing!
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IOW, we should desire heaven because it will be so pleasurable for ourselves to be there. Isn’t this selfishness? Wanting pleasure for yourself?
And what about your loved ones who may be in Purgatory or even in hell? You go around enjoying all these pleasures while they are suffering horrific torments of fire?
 
AlNg said:
IOW, we should desire heaven because it will be so pleasurable for ourselves to be there. Isn’t this selfishness? Wanting pleasure for yourself?
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That is not even remotely what I said, to the point that I have to assume you’re being deliberately obtuse. Seriously, it’d be impressive if it wasn’t so frustrating.

We should seek Heaven so we can be with God. That is literally the purpose of our existence. That doesn’t change the fact that Heaven will be pure bliss. The two things are not mutually exclusive.

And yes, if my loved ones on Earth go to Hell, then I will go on enjoying the bliss of Heaven while they suffer. I know that sounds callous, but that is the reality of the situation. It will literally be impossible for us to be sad in Heaven. While we may pity them for their choices which resulted in their damnation, we will also understand that they freely chose their damnation, and it will not impede our experience of happiness and fulfillment in God’s presence.
 
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This reminds me of the song Poor Wayfaring Stranger

🎶 I’ll drop my cross of self-denial
🎶 And I’ll go singing home to God
 
ProdglArchitect said:
I know that sounds callous, but that is the reality of the situation.
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Yes. You are right. It sounds like you would have no sympathy, and no compassion for the misfortunate situation and horrific suffering of the loved ones so dear to you.
 
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Prodigal1984 said:
What do we do for eternity?
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Personally I plan to build a secluded cottage that no one can find on a headland overlooking a stormy sea. For it be truly “heavenly” for me, the weather will always be cold, overcast, windy, raining, and sunset will be early every afternoon. The finest teas will be available, and the coldest beer for the evening. An endless library will be at my disposal and I’ll have cats and small outdoor animals for company. I’ll have no visitors unless I choose to invite them.
 
CelticWarlord said:
Personally I plan to build a secluded cottage that no one can find on a headland overlooking a stormy sea. For it be truly “heavenly” for me, the weather will always be cold, overcast, windy, raining, and sunset will be early every afternoon. The finest teas will be available,… An endless library will be at my disposal and I’ll have cats and small outdoor animals for company. I’ll have no visitors unless I choose to invite them.
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Yes. This does sound like heaven to me also. I like it.
I will also be praying for snow blizzards from time to time.
 
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AlNg said:
And what about your loved ones who may be in Purgatory or even in hell? You go around enjoying all these pleasures while they are suffering horrific torments of fire?
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This worries me also, but C.S.Lewis indicates, in The Great Divorce, that people who choose their own will, and thus hell, in some way cease to be human. They diminish to nearly nothing; nothing remains but a grumble. That’s a book worth reading.
 
AlNg said:
Yes. You are right. It sounds like you would have no sympathy, and no compassion for the misfortunate situation and horrific suffering of the loved ones so dear to you.
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It’s not me personally, no one will… Or rather, we will have compassion, but it will not interfere with our happiness. It can’t interfere with our happiness because of the nature of Heaven.

That’s not something we can’t really understand here, but we cannot be sad in Heaven, it is impossible, and so it stands to reason that we will not be sad, despite how we may recoil against that idea here. We just don’t understand it yet.
Viki63 said:
That’s a book worth reading.
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That’s my favorite C.S. Lewis book.
 
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So far I think no one has mentioned the Communion of Saints. The beatific vision will certainly be something to behold, way beyond our current comprehension, and of which all earthly pleasures are merely a glimmer, but part of that will also include knowing and being known by all who respond to the wedding invitation of the Lamb. Imagine being one with and being really known and seen by everyone who’s saved from the beginning of time. And I mean really knowing and being known, no more masks or spots or flaws or anything of the kind, but simply the real you and me as we were meant to be. I, for one, can’t think of ever getting tired of that kind of interaction…
 
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AlNg said:
IOW, we should desire heaven because it will be so pleasurable for ourselves to be there. Isn’t this selfishness? Wanting pleasure for yourself?
And what about your loved ones who may be in Purgatory or even in hell? You go around enjoying all these pleasures while they are suffering horrific torments of fire?
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Maybe we could like ask Jesus if he can please have mercy on our loved ones and that the world was really in bad shape at the time with everything going on etc. We won’t really know until we get there. The Church has teachings and speculations of course but it isn’t like we have a public revelation of someone coming back and giving us a complete detail of everything. Revelation gives a lot but not so much on the nature of Heaven but more so the end of days and the glory of God etc. The more specific stuff, well there’s some extra canonical texts that go into it but they aren’t scripture. It probably is all just speculation. I mean most of us probably have a false view of what heaven is since it is completely out of our ration of thought. It is like asking you to imagine a color that we can’t perceive. It may well be there but our senses can’t grasp it.
 
God is pure and ultimate Love and Reality. His depths and his beauty are limitless. In Heaven we will serve in his temple forever, both with our soul and with our glorified resurrected body. This includes:

Infinite prayer
Infinite works of mercy
Infinite music
Infinite silence
Infinite thanksgiving
Infinite fellowship and friendship
Infinite laughter
Infinite discovery and exploration
Infinite learning. As we speak, the seraphim are learning something new.
Infinite wonder and awe
Infinite youthfulness and energy
Infinite peace
Infinite ecstasy

This world is a womb and we have not yet been born. Heaven in both the soul and in the bodily senses will surpass the present universe to an infinitely vast and creative degree.
 
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