I know that such a concept is preposterous, but still, let us ponder it for a moment. I'll try to make that moment as brief as the subject deserves.

If there is no God, and no other afterlife than the wandering of molecules from one animal, through soil and plants, into the next - will the laws of life and death change? Will the ethics of, say, murder differ?

No.

Although no more needs to be said on the matter, I'm compelled, I must confess, by the very comfort of this line of reasoning, to caress it a bit further with my words.

The laws of Heaven and Hell, of good and bad, would not change the least - and here's why:

What's best for the Gods, whether they are real or not, is best for men also. What Heaven wishes, is the ultimate choice for the earth.

Yes. Could we only comply with the intentions of Heaven, without any trickery or selfishly twisted interpretations, then earth would soon become a place to be, not the least bit inferior to it.

Accordingly, maybe Heaven is nothing but the ultimate utopian vision of the world of the living. And the laws of the Gods are not a system of merits for the dead, but a do-it-yourself guide for making Utopia come true, in the world of the living.

We only have to read and utilize the guide properly, to arrive there shortly.

I believe it will happen. I pray it will.

Bear with me, please, as I'm compelled to repeat this:

What's best for the Gods, whether they exist or not, is best for men also.

Could we only comply with the intentions of Heaven, without any trickery or selfishly twisted interpretations - and history tells us that this is a most difficult task - then earth would soon become a place to be, not the least bit inferior to it.

Yes, maybe the laws of the Gods are a do-it-yourself guide for making Utopia come true.

Utopia. Wouldn't that be nice?

Strangely enough, some say not.

e often joke about heavenly things, claiming them to be utterly naive. A Paradise on earth, we say, would really be a bore.

Nonsense.

Certainly, our concepts of Hell are usually far more exciting than those of Heaven.

Like the Disney movie Fantasia, where the devil appears in fiery splendor, surrounded by hordes of naked men and women involved in quite intriguing perversions. The cinema house is filled with thunderous music.

The heavenly domain, on the other hand, is depicted by a serene line of grayish monks, walking through gloomy countryside, accompanied by sleepy music. Each of the identical little monks carries a candle, which doesn't help much against the spiritual gloom night of the scene.

If that's the case, if that's a relevant description of Heaven and Hell - then who wouldn't choose to spend eternity in the lower quarters?

But it's not.

Honestly - what could you expect from Walt Disney?

Bliss is what it is, infinitely incomparable. Beyond words, beyond any worldly form of description. Hell is not.

That's the catch. Just like a world of heroes and their martial quests, Hell makes better cinema. But that's its only advantage.

Heaven is something else.

You know, don't you?

Sometime, we've all had a taste of it. That, the Gods - the elusive ones - do grant us. One taste of Heaven and of sweet bliss.

Wherever and whenever it strikes us, we are stunned. The rest of our lives, no matter how long, will differ from what they were like before that moment.

One such taste should suffice, wouldn't you say, for ever more living in certainty of what to cherish and what not to.