Posted on 11/27/2012 9:00:34 AM PST by Gamecock
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Kerrie Jameson is confident she is going to heaven. What scares her is the possibility that she’ll show up 30 pounds overweight and stay that way forever.
“I work a desk job, and my physique reflects that,” says Jameson, 28, who used to work out daily but has fallen into bad eating habits. “I have this horrible image of myself standing before the throne looking like a lumpy sack of flour. Everyone else will be worshiping, and I’ll be slinking off to a corner to eat chocolate and console myself.”
The idea of being fat in heaven first occurred to her during a sermon on Jesus’ nail-scarred hands and feet. Jameson realized that some earthly attributes, including physical characteristics, follow us to the next life.
“Jesus still has wounds on his body,” Jameson says. “Doesn’t that tell us something? What if I die before I get my weight down? Will I be stuck like this always? Will I have to diet in heaven?”
Concerned, she brought it up at a recent women’s retreat, sparking a vigorous discussion during the afternoon meeting. Jameson said she dreaded the prospect of “wearing a plus-size robe for eternity” and was searching for any biblical evidence that people in heaven will have bodies that “represent their perfect selves.”
Her secret hope, applauded by many of the women, was that when she walks through the pearly gates the weight will “disappear” to be remembered no more.
“If overeating is a sin, and the effects of sin are completely wiped away in heaven, then people with weight issues should be in the clear,” she said.
Brianna Worthington, 27, a mom who is in marathon shape, openly disagreed.
“I haven’t worked this hard on my body only to have it taken away once I die,” she said to scattered boos. “Don’t our works follow us? Don’t we get rewarded for what we’ve done down here? Do I get nothing for keeping my temple in shape?”
She said it felt “unfair” that every saint would look instantly perfect in heaven, but she also didn’t want heaven to look like “every mall in the U.S. where half the people are so big they have a hard time moving around.”
Jenny, a substantially overweight church member who says she carries around enough extra pounds “to form another small human,” said she believed people in heaven will look almost exactly like they do here — and that “weight diversity” makes life interesting. She cited instances from the Bible where people appeared in their post-death forms and were still recognizable: the prophet Samuel, Moses, Elijah and, of course, Jesus himself.
“Some people are built fat and happy, and that makes the world fun,” said the longtime church organist. “I don’t want a heaven where everyone looks like a cover model.”
She said she looks forward to “zooming around heaven in a big, impressive body.”
Other women expressed concern about physical attributes such as tattoos and breast implants. There was a rough consensus that foreign substances like ink and silicone probably would not make the translation, but the verdict was out on plastic surgery and obesity.
Jameson found little comfort in the discussion and is starting a “salad and cucumbers” diet upon returning home. She prays God will give her enough time to hit her weight goal before exiting this life.
“Everything right now is about making sure I reach my preferred dress size in case I die suddenly,” she says. “I’m driving a lot more carefully now.” •
Maybe if they put down that coke...
I believe there are a number of instances where Jesus actually was not recognized, weren’t there? For example, there is the walk to Emmaus. I have always wondered about that.......
Three women die together in an accident and go to heaven. When they get there, St. Peter says, “We only have one rule here in heaven: don’t step on the ducks!”
So they enter heaven, and sure enough, there are ducks all over the place. It is almost impossible not to step on a duck, and although they try their best to avoid them, the first woman accidentally steps on one. Along comes St. Peter with the ugliest man she ever saw.
St. Peter chains them together and says, “Your punishment for stepping on a duck is to spend eternity chained to this ugly man!”
The next day, the second woman steps accidentally on a duck and along comes St. Peter, who doesn’t miss a thing. With him is another extremely ugly man. He chains them together with the same admonishment as for the first woman.
The third woman has observed all this and, not wanting to be chained for all eternity to an ugly man, is very, VERY careful where she steps.
She manages to go months without stepping on any ducks, but one day St. Peter comes up to her with the most handsome man she has ever laid eyes on – very tall, long eyelashes, muscular, and thin.
St. Peter chains them together without saying a word.
The happy woman says, “I wonder what I did to deserve being chained to you for all of eternity?”
The guy says, “I don’t know about you, but I stepped on a duck!”
Now where did I put my screen wipes. I need to get the Mountain Dew of my monitor.
I think all of them need to delve into their Bibles a little more deeply. Our souls are eternal, our bodies are not. In Heaven the ‘body’ we have will be exactly what God wants us to have and His idea of perfection. Tha’s good enough for me.
And no, there aren’t going to be heavenly rewards for marathon running.
Anyone who thinks they will appear before any Pearly Gates or before God in the body they have now are dreaming..
We will have no need for earthly bodies in heaven.
Heh. Silly first-world worries about the afterlife. Will I be fat in Heaven? Will I be the old or young version of me? Will I still be able to see the Cowboys game? Will Heaven have buffalo wings? Medium-rare steak?
My guess is that none of it matters and we’re just not bright enough to understand ... though I can’t imagine a Heaven without steak.
SnakeDoc
>>Purgatory is Heaven’s physical fitness center. And if you thought your high school gym teacher was rough, wait until you have an archangel telling you to give one more rep.<<
And your shop teacher having you make that birdhouse AGAIN until endtimes.
Now here’s a person who has not read her Bible.
I am bemused by peoples’ amazingly trivial views of heaven and hell. Both a light view of hell and a low view of heaven are really a distortion of the character of God.
It’s because before Crucifixion the Roman Soldiers ripped off Jesus’ beard/ After Resurrection he bore the scars of that and his followers didn’t recognize him until he spoke to them. When we get to heaven we will see his scarred face, hands, feet and side and know just HOW MUCH we are LOVED!
3 hours later he returns. He goes up to the first lady and says "Sorry for the wait. Did you mind?"
The lady replied "Saint Peter, I've waited 76 years to get here. I didn't mind at all."
"Oh, good," said Saint Peter, "Just before you can go into heaven, please spell God." "G-O-D" the lady replies, and in she goes.
The second lady gets the same treatment. Saint Pete asked the thir lady did she mind, and she replied "Saint Peter, I've waited all my life in grocery store lines, in movie-ticket lines, at the RMV, and now even at heaven's gate! Yes I did mind. Truth be told, I'm peeved off!"
Saint Peter smiles ingraciatingly. "Well I'm very sorry. You just have to spell one word before you can go in."
The lady, having seen the other two ladies, starts "G-o--" Saint Peter cut her off. "Oh no ma'am, your word is Methionylthreonylthreonylglutaminylarginyl...isoleucine*."
.
*Chemical name of titen, a protein molecule, FYI.
Exactly. I assume that just being in God’s awesome, incredible, currently-not-understandable presence will be enough to keep you overfowing with joy for time without end.
Try imagining the diet of Adam and Eve. Fruits, nuts and vegetables. To get a steak you would have to kill a cow. I'm pretty sure death in Heaven will not be an option. I'm thinking you'll be out of luck on the steak.
Exactly. Since they don't they are misled by their own earthly thinking. I can't be bothered with those who are so deliberately misled.
In heaven you spend all day (there are no nights) on a bright, hot, sunny beach, eating grilled hamburgers made from frozen, pre-formed patties with store-bought potato salad, cole slaw and chips, washed down with an endless supply of Milwaukee’s Best Light. You do this until you are sick of being an angel, then you get reincarnated and go another round.
Depends. Are there Twinkies in Heaven?
I expect that the sheer glory of being in the awesome, unspeakable presence of our Creator - the One who spoke everything into existence - will be sufficient.
People with humanistic views of heaven, like the ones in this article, make themselves and their own ego the focus of Heaven.
God Himself is the focus of all souls in Heaven, nothing else.
When my middle child died, my oldest asked me if we’d recognize her in Heaven and be able to be together. I told her I didn’t know for sure, but I didn’t expect so. Anything less than the glory of God as sole focus of Heaven wouldn’t make it Heaven, in my opinion.
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