Russell Moore writes an interesting post on why the afterlife boars us. He fleshes this out further in an article in Christianity Today from a year ago.
Speaking for myself, I can certainly identify with what Moore says about being bored at the idea of eternity in heaven. I used to really struggle with the impression of heaven, of the afterlife, that I had growing up in the church. As an inquisitive child, asking all kinds of questions about what heaven would be like, I remember receiving answers like "everything you need for your happiness will be there," or "we will just praise God for all eternity." I would alternate between visions of a celestial and perpetual summer vacation in an infinitely well stocked toy room and an unending church worship service. As a kid who didn't really like school, I thought the perpetual vacation sounded pretty good, but not the eternal worship service. Now that I am older, I don't think either one sounds all that exciting. I'm not trying to sound irreverent so please don't take me wrong, I love Lord's Day worship with God's people. But deep down, I struggled with the idea of an afterlife with a great deal less variety and activity than this present, earthly life. It just wasn't a vision that really fired my mind and heart. Quadrillions of years looking back on this life and enjoying the reward of heaven seems out of proportion with the fleeting moment of our existence here and now. Eternal rest after 70 or 80 years of labour... However, my thinking has changed regarding the nature of eternal life in God's presence and it changed from reading Scripture (which I think is a good thing). I'd like to think out loud about it in further posts on this subject.
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