Tag: heaven

I’ve long been haunted by Nanci Griffith’s 1987 rendition of Julie Gold’s 1985 song, “From a Distance.” I listened to it again on a recent drive back from Seattle, so I decided to ponder the song’s lyrics and wrestle with its repeated assertion that “God is watching us from a distance.”

In the Orthodox faith, the bond of love between those who are present and those who departed exists and is upheld through mutual prayer for one another. Should a man that has prayed for his wife for 50 years stop praying for her after she has departed? Prayers for the departed help them; however, we don’t know how.

The sacraments are given to us as ways to nourish, in various ways, an active love for God and neighbor. They are means to an end, not ends in themselves. 

This Ask an Eastern Orthodox Christian column answers the question: Do all Christians go to Heaven?

The concept of a heavenly afterlife for the faithful (and a hellish one for their persecutors) seems to have become appealing in Judaism during a time of great persecution: if faithfulness was not rewarded on earth, then it would be later by a just God.

At death, our bodies remain on Earth whereas our spirits reside in a state of rest (spirit world or heaven) until the day of resurrection

For those who choose not to love God or are incapable of loving or loving God, this consuming fire (the love of God) is unspeakable anguish and torment for them.