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Bringing Heaven Down To Earth
Connecting This Life to the Next
by Nathan L.K. Bierma

Chapter 1
Lost in the Cornfield: Hope in Crisis

• Synopsis
• Discussion Questions
• Quotation Citations
• Further Reading

Synopsis
We live daily life with little sense of hope for the coming of heaven. We march through the rhythms of our daily routines, preoccupied by details and minor destinies, but fail to see the bigger picture. Part of the problem is the popular imagery that definea our visions of heaven, leading us to suppose that eternity will be spent floating on clouds, wearing robes, and playing harps. These pictures fail to inspire us with a relevant picture of the afterlife. Another problem is that we don't know when heaven will come, and the popular prophecies that try to guess the time and date of the apocalypse seem silly. As a result, we have no meaningful picture of heaven to shape our daily lives and give us hope.

Discussion Questions
• What inhibits our daily hope for heaven?
• How do we imagine heaven? Where do these images come from?
• How can we make the coming of heaven more real to us in our daily lives?

Quotation Citations
• Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. SanFransisco: Harper, 2001. p. 137.
• Miller, Lisa. Newsweek. 12. Aug. 2002. “Why we need heaven”: p. 44.
• Moltmann, Jurgen. Theology of Hope: p.33.
• Schor, Juliet. The Overworked American: The Unexpected
Decline of Leisure.
• Smedes, Lewis B. How Can It Be All Right When Everything Is All Wrong? pp. 126-132.
• Rushin, Steve. Road Swing. pp. 9-15.
• Yancey, Philip. I Was Just Wondering: pp.213.

Further Reading
Dante Alighieri, Paradiso.

Easterbrook, Gregg. The Progress Paradox: How Life Gets Better While People Feel Worse. Random House, 2003.