Nothing is working right this morning. I got locked out of my online ministry banking account. (Hmm, what is my accountant’s mother-in-law’s first name?) And for some reason, I can’t access my ministry’s website with my home wifi, Starbucks’ wifi, or with my cellphone hotspot. I can check my email, read Dilbert, and get caught up on Yahoo news. But can I access my online ministry site? Nope.
Except for the wifi at Noodles. The Noodles restaurant next door to the Starbucks I’m at left their wifi on when they closed last night. Thanks to its absentminded manager, if I sit next to the wall at Starbucks that separates it from Noodles, I get three bars from Noodles’ public wifi! Finally, I can get on NewCommandment.org and write my post about visualizing heaven.
I’m pretty sure heaven doesn’t have an Internet, thank goodness. The reason is because it doesn’t need one. Rather, I think communication in heaven is instantaneous and universal, sort of the way our body communicates with itself. In fact, we Christians are likened to a body in scripture, with Christ being our head.
I call this instantaneous heavenly communication the immediacy of souls. Just as we see each other’s bodies instantaneously now, so we will see each other’s souls instantaneously in heaven. We will be, on the one hand, uniquely ourselves, and on the other hand, completely and utterly transparent. We will, in effect, wear our souls “on the outside” for everyone to see. Nothing about us will be hidden from view because nothing will need to be hidden. We will know each other, and ourselves, perfectly.
I believe this is why Adam and Eve were so ashamed that they were naked when they sinned. Something had died – their souls – but they could no longer tell what it was because…well, they were spiritually dead. Something was missing from their bodies, so they had to compensate by covering up, by hiding themselves, starting a process of isolation and conflict that has marred the human race ever since.
No, there won’t be any Internet in heaven. No passwords. No stolen identities either. Just shared identities.
Anna! Phil’s mother-in-law’s first name is Anna.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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