Transposition

Have you ever had a difficult time envisioning heaven? Or maybe find that the vague descriptions in the Bible lack the vibrancy that some lesser experiences on earth can bring?

C. S. Lewis writes an essay entitled "Transposition" in the book Weight of Glory. It is about why we often view heaven in negative terms. We know through Scripture that there will be no marriage, no family, no tears; but since these things are fundamental to human experience, we struggle to envision a world without them. We know that in heaven we will be with God, so there is no question it will be very good; but sometimes we just lack the terms to think of it properly.

Lewis explains why this is a case and provides a helpful illustration: Imagine there is a woman who has been thrown into a dungeon. The dungeon is dark, the walls are damp; and apart from a small grate in the ceiling there is no other access to the world outside. Other than the blue sky that sometimes shines through that grate, everything in the prison is dark and gray.

Then, imagine that the imprisoned woman gives birth to a son. The baby grows up to be a young child, but being born in the dungeon he has never seen the outside world. He has never seen majestic mountains or vibrant colors. He has never seen the crashing waves of the ocean, or been confronted with the conglomeration of colors that is a sunset. All the boy knows in his existence is the damp, dark walls of the cell. He can see the hint of blue sky through the grate, of course, but apart from that he has no understanding of the things above.

But this woman in our illustration, this boy's mother, is also an artist. And she has with her in the dull cell a few white sheets of paper and a lead pencil. The woman then draws a beautiful black and white picture of a landscape of the "outside world" for her son who has never seen it. She then tells her child about what is beyond the dank stone walls, and describes to him what it is like. The boy loves to see and imagine what life outside must be like, but because he has never seen colors, mountains, landscapes--he lacks the terms to properly understand. And when she tells him that the world beyond is not black and white like the lead drawings, nor full of pencil lines--the "dutiful boy" is a little disappointed. The drawings, while beautiful sketches, fail to accurately imitate the vibrancy and multiplicity of real life, and the boy cannot mentally picture it without the lead outlines.

This child is like us. We live on earth and as earthlings we lack the frame of reference to understand the world beyond: heaven. We have some black and white drawings, some small glimpses of heaven on earth. We know there will be streets of gold and precious stones. We know that we will worship Savior with all the saints. We know that Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, and what is more: we will be with Him! But just like 2 dimensional beings living in a flat, 2 dimensional world, we cannot even begin to comprehend what it would be like to live in 3 dimensions! Having watched silent films in black and white all our lives, we have no idea what it would be like to view a 3D movie in IMAX.

As Lewis says:

‘We know not what we shall be’; but we may be sure we shall be more, not less, than we were on earth. Our natural experiences (sensory, emotional, imaginative) are only like the drawing, like penciled lines on flat pater. If they vanish in the risen life, they will vanish only as pencil lines vanish from the real landscape, not as a candle flame that is put out but as a candle flame which becomes invisible because someone has pulled up the blind, thrown open the shutters, and let in the blaze of the risen sun.

What a beautiful image. I, for one, cannot wait.

***

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

--Colossians 3:1-4