Article November 24, 1997 Issue

"Heaven is where the cooks are French ..."

Cornelia Schacht

"Heaven is where the cooks are French, the policemen are British, the mechanics are German, the romantics are Italian, and everything is run by the Swiss." So the joke goes. But what is heaven really? Is it actually a place?

The Bible speaks about the "kingdom of heaven," and Christ Jesus uses several parables to illustrate what it is (see Matt. 13:1-48). Among his illustrations: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." And "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it." What do these images tell us about "heaven"?

With questions like this one I have found it most helpful to turn to Science and Health, a book that provides the "key" to the Bible, because it helps to reveal the Scriptures' spiritual meaning and how this meaning can be applied in everyday life. There I found, in the Glossary, the following explanation: "Heaven. Harmony; the reign of Spirit; government by divine Principle; spirituality; bliss; the atmosphere of Soul" (p. 587).

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