[adapted from What You Take To Heaven]

Once on the other side, you are there.

There are no more threats.

There's no imperfection.

Doubt vanishes.

Not an ounce remains.

The more faith, the higher the place.

You'll bring no sadness, no maladies, with you.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's too good (considering God's absolute goodness) not to be.

On the other side, those who were ill, who were missing limbs, who were hunched over in life, who had been unsightly, wore frayed clothes, had blemishes, or the worst tumors, the worst possible ailments, unto amputation, ebola, leprosy, suddenly find themselves -- in completely perfect health. We don't take any dis-ease (which originally meant "lack of peace") with us -- not to Heaven. We have no wear and tear with us. We don't bring old age. There is a popular painting showing a crippled elderly woman entering a looking glass between here and there and being greeted as a young woman on the other side by Jesus.

There's truth there. Old out; new in, forever.

There is the overwhelming atmosphere of well-being.

No one is obese; none is emaciated; no one bears scars. Most look like they're in their twenties or early thirties. Apparently, that's the popular age to choose. Historically, the Blessed Mother is described as young, radiating, sometimes even in her teens, "a woman clothed with the sun," the sun being the closest a metaphor for the brilliant light that stands as the single most immediate depiction of Heaven, that doesn't, however, afflict the eyes, doesn't blind, doesn't burn even though it is of greater intensity -- infinitely -- than what is in the sky here on earth. There is light all around. Everywhere. No shadows. All-pervasive. It comes from God. It contains the universe. Prophets in the Bible called it "glory."

We encounter it upon release. We must never hold onto darkness. Sometimes, we do so out of insecurity. We must release insecurity, along with suffering. All will be illumined. A woman from Singapore named Anita Moorjani said: "If you imagine you are in a warehouse that is completely dark and you have one little flashlight and that's the only light you have to navigate through this warehouse, and you're shining the light to navigate through this warehouse and you're shining your path ahead of you, so you're not bumping into anything: Imagine if the lights go on -- huge floodlights -- and this whole warehouse just [suddenly] lights up, and you realize it's much larger than you ever imagined. When all the lights are on you can see everything at once. The warehouse is lined with shelves and shelves, of all kinds, of different things, different colors, different shapes. Suddenly you understand that when you just had the flashlight, you could only see one thing at a time, but now you can see everything all at once and they all exist simultaneously. For the first time in my entire life did I feel I was loved and accepted unconditionally for who I am. I felt like I was connected to everyone and everything."

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