But I hope you will bear with me. Easter season does invite us to think about death and God's triumph over death, and perhaps part of our rejoicing in salvation through Jesus is considering the alternatives.
Traditionally, in Christian terms, there are two alternatives after death, heaven and hell. For both, we probably have in our minds some traditional pictures. Heaven is in the clouds, past St. Peter's desk, where we hang out with halos, wings and white robes. Hell is under the ground in a cave and features the color red, pitchforks and pointy beards. The jokes that take place in both locations are endless.
But what is the reality? What is it really like after we die?
There are a variety of options even within Christian Orthodoxy. Rather than review all of them, I simply want to share with you my favorite. It is from C.S. Lewis and can be found in his great, short and very readable book, The Great Divorce.
For him, heaven and hell involve movement and travel. The afterlife is not static. Perhaps we have in our minds Dante's Inferno and Paradiso, where souls are given their place in the hierarchy of the afterlife and once there never move. (Purgatory, the middle book, is only preparation for a soul's pre-assigned place in paradise.) Lewis, by contrast, taps into an ancient eastern Christian belief, which I share, that the trajectory we begin into the depths of God's love now continues in the life to come. God's love is infinite and the adventure continues after death.
In his book, Lewis imagines two landscapes. The first is Hell and at the center of it is a bus stop. The bus comes every day, and every day there are some who choose to come to the bus stop and get on the bus. There others who, every day, choose to move farther and farther away. Napolean, for example is by now thousands of miles away from the bus stop. Everyday, Lewis imagines, he continues the pattern he had in his earthly life of rejecting God's love and forgiveness and so moves further and further. He continues to experience the consequence of his rejection. If he will only turn, even in death, he can be forgiven and get on the bus.
The bus takes all the willing souls up to heaven. The bus leaves the souls at the edge of a plain. As the book continues a soul travels along the plain toward a mountain range, beyond which, he is assured, are even greater mysteries and deeper joys.
Is it true? I don't know. But it makes deep sense to me. Like all human pictures of the afterlife with God, Lewis' picture is a reflection of some of his most deeply held beliefs about God, Jesus and humanity, almost all of which I share. God is love. God created us free and we often use our freedom badly. Despite our poor use of our freedom, God forgives us and has given us the capacity, through Jesus, to accept forgiveness and grow in love. I believe the trajectory of growth has the potential to grow infinitely, even after the grave.
I encourage you to read The Great Divorce. It's a quick and easy read and gives much food for thought. If there's interest I would be happy to lead a discussion.
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