Why is our last decision the only one that matters?

[4Horsemen]

We are made in the image of God and we **never **make a last decision!

How do you know?

Isn’t there a final moment, a last word, a last thought?

Relatives and friends who await the death of a loved one, wait to hear if something will be spoken. Those who have recorded the words in writing of great saints in history did so for posterity. Monks have written the last words of their abbot and even popes.

I suppose you mean that our whole lives are lived either for or against the Lord? But that wouldn’t take into account free will – that we can change our minds even at the end although I think that would be very rare.

 

[Spirithound]

How do you know?

Isn’t there a final moment, a last word, a last thought?
…

I think what Tony means is that after our Earthly life, we continually make decisions in Heaven or hell, although each of those decisions naturally confirms our new state of life.

 

[Kismetji]

It’s wonderful to know that God is merciful to anyone who repents, no matter how late they have a change of heart. But the flipside of that is eternal suffering for (for example) a lifelong devout Catholic who rejects God minutes before his/her death. Though it may be unlikely, I think it’s definitely possible.

So how does that make any kind of sense?

I’ll one-up you one. Why does anything we “choose” at all matter? What meaning does a “free will” have?

I can flick my wrist back and forth freely: does that mean anything? Why transpose this “meaning” into any other deciding? It seems to me an arbitrary free will can have no real meaning.

 

[Slowlearner]

I’ll one-up you one. Why does anything we “choose” at all matter? What meaning does a “free will” have?

I can flick my wrist back and forth freely: does that mean anything? Why transpose this “meaning” into any other deciding? It seems to me an arbitrary free will can have no real meaning.

The answers to those questions, and more can be found in the Gospel.

 

[Spirithound]

I’ll one-up you one. Why does anything we “choose” at all matter? What meaning does a “free will” have?

I can flick my wrist back and forth freely: does that mean anything? Why transpose this “meaning” into any other deciding? It seems to me an arbitrary free will can have no real meaning.

Flicking one’s wrist back and forth freely could have meaning. In fact, I’m sure it’s positively obscene in at least a couple cultures. In Canada, however, it generally has no meaning at all. For this reason, it is not in the realm of moral choices. There are some choices that involve physically imposing oneself on another. Surely you will agree that that has some sort of meaning?

 

[4Horsemen]

I think what Tony means is that after our Earthly life, we continually make decisions in Heaven or hell, although each of those decisions naturally confirms our new state of life.

Okay. Because our free will doesn’t stop existing and is part of the soul, we continue to make choices in Heaven and hell (and Purgatory?) But what kinds of choices? Certainly not moral since we’ve made the final moral choice in our earthly bodies that determined where we would go for all eternity. (I believe that those who are encumbered mentally may not be able to make a final decision. I also believe that God in His Mercy looks at the “heart” of man).

I mean, for example, in Heaven would it be an act of free will for a soul to choose to visit this or that saint or spend some time in discussion with the Apostles, walk with Jesus through the beautiful gardens with fruit trees that have only the most perfect fruit (if there are fruit trees?) What decisions would be made in hell? Would Screwtape give us a lesson in how to tempt the next poor soul as C.S. Lewis fancied Uncle Screwtape writing to his nephew, Wormwood, in his literary materpiece The Screwtape Letters?

I can’t imagine what possible decision-making could be accomplished in Purgatory especially since the poor souls cannot even pray for themselves. But I guess they can decide to pray for us on earth.

The above makes me wonder if free will, as understood here on earth as a moral compass, is necessary for the afterlife.

 

[Spirithound]

Okay. Because our free will doesn’t stop existing and is part of the soul, we continue to make choices in Heaven and hell (and Purgatory?) But what kinds of choices? Certainly not moral since we’ve made the final moral choice in our earthly bodies that determined where we would go for all eternity.

I mean, for example, in Heaven would it be an act of free will for a soul to choose to visit this or that saint or spend some time in discussion with the Apostles, walk with Jesus through the beautiful gardens with fruit trees that have only the most perfect fruit (if there are fruit trees?) What decisions would be made in hell?

I can’t imagine what possible decision-making could be accomplished in Purgatory especially since the poor souls cannot even pray for themselves. But I guess they can decide to pray for us on earth.

Certainly we’ll be making moral choices in the afterlife. Any choice is by definition a moral choice (we are speaking in the same sense, a moral choice is not necessarily a good moral choice).

I believe you are correct in your ideas of what choices can be made in Heaven. As for hell, the only choice those souls are inclined to make is to turn further into themselves.

And Purgatory itself is a choice. The blessed souls of Purgatory choose to undergo purification so they may enter Heaven. As an aside, that is their prayer. They can pray for themselves, since prayer only means communicating with God. However, they cannot speed up their own process, simply because they are already getting through it as quickly as they possibly can.