The Vision the Changes Everything!
Every once in a while, I come across a question online that stops me in my tracks. It’s not because it’s complex or theological, but because it’s so human.
A few weeks ago, someone asked:
“What is heaven like? Is it like a theme park, or more like a spa with a daily schedule and stuff?”
At first, it made me smile — because it’s exactly the kind of question most people secretly wonder about but never ask out loud. Beneath the humor, though, was something sacred: a longing to know what it will actually feel like to be with God.
That question became the seed for a chapter in a book I’ve been working on called Glad You Asked: Catholic Answers to Honest Questions. The book began with a simple idea — to take real questions that people ask online and respond to them with sincerity, compassion, and truth. I didn’t want to lecture anyone or prove a point. I just wanted to meet people where they already are, often curious, sometimes skeptical, but always searching.
As I began writing the answer to that question about heaven, I realized something: our images of heaven are almost always reflections of what we miss most here on earth. We picture joy because we long for joy. We picture peace because we live in chaos. We picture reunion because we’ve said too many goodbyes.
But the more I sat with it, the more I understood that heaven isn’t just a place we go to. It’s the moment when we finally see as God sees.
The Church calls it the Beatific Vision — seeing God “as He is,” face to face, with nothing between us and His love. But I think that phrase also hints at something deeper. When we see God as He is, we begin to see everything else as He sees it too: the people we once struggled to forgive, the pain we could never understand, even our own lives with all their detours and regrets. In that light, everything looks different.
Heaven, then, isn’t a theme park or a spa. It’s the perfection of love; the moment when every fragment of joy we ever knew finally fits together. It’s not an escape from reality; it’s reality made whole.
Writing that chapter reminded me that heaven doesn’t begin only after death. It begins in every moment we learn to see through God’s eyes; when we choose compassion over criticism, hope over despair, and love over fear. In those moments, eternity touches time, and we begin to glimpse the world as it truly is.
So when someone asks what heaven is like, I think I’ll keep this answer simple:
“Heaven is when we see as God sees.”
Reflection Prompt:
What would change in your life if you began to see yourself and others as God sees you — with complete truth and complete love?
Let me know what you think! Also, if you have questions of your own, send them my way. I will offer some words of wisdom that intend to cultivate some clarity. And, of course, from time to time, even a little “righteous outrage”. :)
Thank you for being part of this journey with me. Your presence here means more than you know. Every comment, every moment of reflection, and every quiet prayer you share reminds me that Always Toward the Light is not just a publication; it is a community of hearts seeking truth together.
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Warm regards,
John Henry
Amen! Beautifully put, John. Thank you for that heavenly view.