Someone found out, some years ago, that a survey was done in heaven, and the results astonished. Here it is:
"Americans who have died and gone to heaven are not entirely satisfied with either. Twelve hundred dead Americans were interviewed in a survey. These tended to be older than average. Older, or else more careless. About 36% found heaven better than they expected, and about 21% thought it was about the same as they expected, and 43% were disappointed. Of the 1200 Americans surveyed, 31% feel it is poorly run and 17% feel that government is not paying enough attention to their needs....Those who were disappointed with heaven say the food is good, and they like not having winter and all that, but they feel a lot of uncertaintly about the future. You get there and it's not as perfect as you think. The hardware is a different size. So you can't do home improvement or anything. No yard work. The selection of reading materials is limited. So is cable reception. It's poor. They don't care for the people all that much. The blessed, the meek, they get on your nerves. And the pure of heart tend to be hard to get to know. Women, especially, they're real standoffish."
Sounds a lot like a typical poll on earth, huh? I think that was Garrison Keillor's point. He also put in there that "If I were God, I'd be concerned about it. Those are pretty high negatives." It's like the old Rolling Stone song, "I can't get no...satfisfaction...."
I've often joked that hell is just heaven, only it's hell to those who are dissatisfied. And what would they be dissatisfied with? Bored, with nothing to do? Singing and having to sit through those 24-hour long worship services? It's hard to say.
I just know that it's easier to be dissatisfied than satisfied these days (and by these days, I mean I've noticed this since I became an adult over 25 years ago). I know for me I have to constantly fight the urge to obsess of that 1 thing that went wrong on a given day than the ten things that went right, or right enough, that were blessings in my life.
You know the devil, he loves dissatisfaction. If fact, his name is "Satan," which means "Accuser," and the biggest accuser for each of us, it seems to me, is that voice deep inside.
That's why I'm always struck by what the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4:8. He says, "Finally beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." He implies we shouldn't be thinking so much about...other things.
I really think we put a lot of Christian Joy out of reach if we are not willing to follow Paul here. Some ask how Paul was able to soldier on with all the terrible things he had to deal with -- rejections, arrests, beatings, whippings, imprisonments, etc. Of course it all starts with his faith in God, that "nothing will be able to separate" him "from the love of God in Christ Jesus." But how is that love activated in Paul's life?
Part of it is how Paul allows the Spirit to influence his mind. And one thought that perhaps kept purring on in Paul's head through all the highs and lows of his life was this: This moment (no matter how the world judges this moment) is a blessing. A Real Blessing.
David Hewitt
