Is Heaven Boring?

No, it's not.

(But seriously...)
There's this strange idea in our culture that Heaven, whatever it's like, is going to be drop dead boring.
A lot of people I've talked to have this idea. They imagine Heaven as basically this infinite cloudy place where people sit around in white robes talking, maybe singing some church songs, and looking down judgmentally at the people on earth. So yeah, boring.
There's an episode of a popular television show where Eve (yes, that Eve) comes back to Earth because "there was nothing to do."

Where does this idea even come from? I think basically three main sources: Greek Philosophers, Dante, and Renaissance Paintings.
Greek philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle gave us the idea of the soul, or "psyche," as this kind of ethereal, airy goo that just kind of hangs around and philosophizes about life for all eternity. Funny how that works out.
Dante's depiction of Heaven, for the record, is super ridiculously exciting and surprising. But the people in Heaven don't seem to have much to do. They're kind of all just hanging around in predetermined, hierarchical spots like in the medieval church.
Finally of course, Renaissance paintings give us our "people sitting on clouds" imagery. 

But this isn't how Heaven or the people in Heaven are ever portrayed in the Bible. In the Bible, Heaven is basically Earth+++. It's everything you like about Earth- but in high resolution.

One counter argument I've heard is that "well if everyone is perfect in Heaven, everyone will just be the same. That's boring." But think about it. Boringness is bad. Boringness is an imperfection, so if Heaven is perfect, boringness can't be in Heaven. You know what isn't bad? Variety.
Apples and oranges aren't the same, but they're both delicious. People will not be all the same in Heaven, but they will all be perfect.

Another argument I've heard is: "good things don't have value without bad things. If you don't have any bad things, you won't appreciate the good things as much." But what is dissatisfaction? A bad thing. Being unsatisfied- not enjoying what you have as much as you can- that's a bad thing. It's not in Heaven.
This one is a more clever argument, though.

Don't worry about Heaven not having enough stuff to do. Everything you like doing on Earth? That will be in Heaven in some form or another. And there'll almost certainly be a bunch of other stuff to do that we've never even thought of. Consider: work is a good thing. It's just usually exhausting and time consuming. But in Heaven, you won't get exhausted and you won't lose any time at all. What will we work on? I don't know, but it'll be awesome.

I think it will be like music. There's no one "right answer" to how a stanza of music should end. There are a bunch of right answers, and you might just like one better- just because you like it. Once you've eliminated all the wrong answers, whatever right answer you choose is subjective.
Imagine: progress without mistakes, solutions without problems. That's what's waiting for us.

Conflicting Wants

I mentioned in a previous post that there's a something of a movement in our society to "find what really makes you happy," or "find your deepest want." People really seem to think that if they just look deep inside themselves enough, they'll find a want that will fix their life forever.
But there are some problems with this.

One of these problems, as I have discussed in another post, is that being happy shouldn't be the main goal in life and is- mostly- impossible.

The second is that there is no "deepest want." It doesn't exist. Humans don't have it.
What we have is lots of wants jumbled around all together, contradicting each other, and existing at the same time.

Conflicting Wants.

I want to eat healthily, but I also want to not get up from my couch. I want to do well in school or at work, but I also hate what I do for school and work. I want people to like me, but I also don't want to put in the time to get them to like me. I want to do what God wants, but I also really really don't.

You see what I mean?

All of us suppress some of our wants in favor of others. We want something more than something else, so we put aside the other thing. And conventional American wisdom states that none of our wants are really bad for us. In fact, they only get "unhealthy" when we repress them. So we need to find ways to achieve them that are "healthy."
And there's a kernel of truth to this, but I'll get to that later.

Usually, what this conventional wisdom and the idea of "find your deepest want" really amount to is that people look inside themselves, find their repressed wants, and think "this is me." This is who I am. This is who I have been all along. And anyone who disagrees or tries to knock me down can go jump in the street.
The child who has gone their whole life being obedient suddenly realizes "that's not who I am anymore." The longtime faithful spouse realizes "this isn't fulfilling for me." The happy, content person thinks "there's something wrong with my life. I have to change it."

The problem is- usually we suppress these things for a reason. We enjoy having people around us who depend on us and like us and who we depend on and like. We enjoy stability, but of course we also enjoy change. Another conflict.
Your wants can't all decide your life for you. You can't follow all of them, and there's no big secret want among them that is going to make you happy all the time. You have to decide for yourself what makes the most sense. What want do you think you should follow? It's your choice.

I also think it's true that every want we have hides a want for something good. Even in all the bad things we want, there's always something under them that's good.
I don't want to get up from my chair because it's comfortable. Comfort is good. I don't want to do school or work because I want to rest. Rest is good. I don't want to put in the time for other people because I want alone time. Alone time is good. I don't want to do what God wants because I want agency and power. And you know what? Agency and power are good.
Think about it. God has agency and power. God is perfect. Being perfect means not being bad at all. So agency and power must be good. They're not all important, but they're good.

And so is change (outside of time it's called "variety"). If you're bored and unfulfilled, try making small, healthy changes to your life first. Don't tear down what you have. Try building something else that's new.

So yes, it's important to find ways of acting out wants that are healthy, but its usually a little more complex than just doing whatever first pops into your head in a socially acceptable way. And its even more important to choose for yourself the want that you think is best. And if you're not sure how to judge which one is best besides which is strongest- well that's probably the next step.
I know how I decide which of my wants to follow. But I can't choose yours for you.

God bless you.

Being Happy

A lot of people in our society think of maximizing happiness/pleasure as the main goal in life. A lot of us can't imagine life any other way. It's in our Declaration of Independence. How else would we live if we weren't trying to be happy all the time? Isn't being permanently, perfectly happy the goal? The reason we get up in the morning?

But the truth is that happiness is a feeling. That's really all it is. And like other feelings, you can't feel it all the time. It's not physically possible (at least on Earth). People who are happy almost all of the time have a serious mental condition and are not healthy. It's the same as sadness, anger, fear, or any other emotion. If you only feel one emotion all of the time (depression, irritability, anxiety), something is wrong with your health, and you should see someone for your own sake.

It's not wrong to feel different kinds of emotions or to not be happy all the time. You can't force yourself to feel a certain way, not really. Just because you're not happy does not mean you are a failure or that you are doing something wrong. It just means you don't feel happy right now.

And there's something else. If you pursue happiness all of the time, you'll realize how short your time being happy actually is. You'll have to go to further and further extremes to keep making yourself happy, and it will probably become unhealthy.
I get depressed frequently, but once I realized it wasn't my fault and that I wasn't doing anything wrong- that I wasn't a failure because I wasn't happy- I found a kind of peace. I became, strangely, happier for not trying to be happy.

Feelings are important, but they shouldn't be our main goal in life. You should take note of your feelings, but they shouldn't have the last word. You can't control your feelings. But you never have to let them control you.

It's okay to not be okay.