I do believe that, even though I’m not a fan of the book.  But I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.
There are those who spend their lives longing for Heaven, longing to escape this vale of tears.  At my Aunt Iva’s funeral I remember the preacher talking about how lucky she was to be rid of this terrible evil world.  But I believe the world. although fallen, is a good place, because God created it and it reflects His majesty, His power, His goodness.   I’m in no hurry to leave it.
There are those whose faith focuses on that “heavenly reward,” who try to “be good” so that they will go to Heaven someday, or for whom salvation in the next world is the whole point of religion.  I try to “be good” because following Christ demands it, not because I’m worried about making it into Heaven some day.
But this week I have been thinking about Heaven, because my faith tells me that’s where the people I have known and loved who have died are now.  And all of us who have been touched by the untimely death of my cousin on Friday have been able to smile through tears thinking about him reunited with his wife and his mother and father.
So it’s not pearly gates and golden pathways that I’m looking forward to experiencing some day–rather it’s a continuation of the loving relationships that have been interrupted by death.
Just as God gives us loved ones and does not lose them in giving, so we do not lose them in returning them to Him.  For life is eternal, love is immortal, and death is just a horizon  beyond which we cannot see with narrow, earthly vision.
– Author Unknown