It’s pretty safe to say, everyone wants to go to Heaven...or at least we think we do. In living our lives day to day, are we actively trying to get to Heaven? Are we rejecting what would lead us to Hell?
We often think the afterlife is this choice between Heaven or Hell, God or Satan. However, is that really the case? Will people go to Hell because they chose Satan? Or, because they didn’t choose God? It seems like an insignificant distinction but it’s very important to understand.
It really comes down to this question, which can be answered only with a “yes” or a “no”: Do we choose God? Because if we don’t, then it doesn’t matter what you choose instead — Satan, sex, money, pride — all of it is simply not God. And, separation from God...well, that’s Hell.
Here’s another approach: A lot of men think, “Eh, you know, I’m not a bad guy. I’m generally a nice person.” But, the real question is, are we good men because we don’t do bad things, or because we do good things?
In our pursuit of Heaven, we are called to detach ourselves from things of this world, and fully attach ourselves to God.
T.S. Eliot has a quote from one of his poems, that can be applied to being men of virtue and seeking sainthood...
“A condition of complete simplicity, costing nothing less than everything”