Many Mansions

I remember as a child sitting in church hearing about how Jesus told his disciples, "In my father's house are many mansions.  If it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place for you." John 14:2.

I used to imagine heaven almost like the movie set from Desperate Housewives but with bigger houses and gold streets.  Really, I'm not kidding.  I imagined these gold roads leading to a huge castle where the angels and God lived -- complete with white beard and cane. Oh, and yes, I even imagined this entire movie set encased in a fence with pearly gates.

That was when I was about five or six.  As I got older, heaven just became this idea for me, this illusive, lovely place that I hoped to one day get to see.

Lately, when I do readings, some of the people in heaven tell me what it looks like over there.  Usually this occurs when their loved one sitting in front of me asks, "Is he okay over there?"

They show me that they have jobs, responsibilities but also lots of fun times.  They visit people who've recently passed over and spend time reconnecting with old friends and loved ones.  They travel A LOT. And I don't know if they show me earth because it's all I know or if heaven looks like Earth, but when I ask them where they go on vacations, they show me all sorts of places I recognize here, on Earth.  One time, a mother asked me, "Well, what does my son do all day up there?" When I asked him, he showed me the mountains in Italy and a rock climber.  I said, "He's showing me that he's climbing mountains in Italy."  She smiled and said, "He was an avid mountain climber and had set a goal of climbing a mountain in every country. Before he died he'd been to five countries, but not Italy."

When my mother-in-law died, I felt her around us for a month or so and then not as much.  When I meditated and asked her where she'd been, I heard her smile and say, "Ireland.  My brother and I are spending most of our time visiting our heritage.  It's lovely."

So when I asked my guides about this, they said that heaven is like Earth but without any negativity, pain, sadness, suffering or evil.  The landscape is the same, but the heaviness is lifted.  Like I said, I don't know if this is true; it's just what they show me.  Maybe heaven is some new dimension that I can't fathom, so they show me Earth.  But it's nice to think that it might be just like here, only better.

The other thing people in heaven love to show me so I can tell their loved one is the house they've built for themselves.  From my experience and what I've seen, most people live alone or with their spouse in heaven.  They build a lovely house for themselves that's never extravagant or large.  It always looks just right and very beautiful.  I've seen log homes, cape cods, colonials and farm houses.  Once I saw a glass house surrounded by woods and a lake.

I do know that it takes time and energy to "build" your house.  I spoke with a woman last week who died in January.  She showed me that she was living with her parents in their home until she could work through some things and learn how to create her house.  I also know that if someone doesn't feel worthy, they won't be able to build a home.  I spoke with a man who committed suicide a year ago and he said he doesn't feel worthy of a home.  He needs to burn off more karma.  So for now, he'd living with family and doing good deeds for people here on Earth to build up really good energy.

What would your house look like in heaven?

I believe, again I don't know, that our energy creates the house.  If we have lots of great energy, if we lived a good, clean life and helped others on Earth, then we've built up enough energy to build a lovely home.  But if we've lived a shallow life and didn't do a whole lot, then we don't have the energy needed to create a nice place in the afterlife.

I also believe that when Jesus spoke of many mansions, he could have been alluding to the many levels of the afterlife.  One thing I'm told over and over by people who've made it to the other side is that there is really no heaven or hell but levels.  Trust me, you don't want to go to the lower levels.  They feel so awful to me, that "hell" doesn't do it justice.  I don't know how many levels there are, but let's pretend there are 7.  Levels one and two would be what we think of hell.  I've seen many versions of this idea of hell -- from total isolation to being surrounded by hundreds of evil people.  Levels 3, 4 and 5 are where most people go.  You know the ones -- the average people who do some good deeds but  mostly spend their life existing.  They work a 9 - 5 job, pay their taxes, watch TV and throw a little money to charity.  Level 6 is where the really lovely and spiritual people go -- the ones who really get that Earth is a school and that love and forgiveness, believing and faith are all that really matter.  And then there's level 7 where the Ghandi's and Mother Teresa's go.  I believe there are many levels beyond this too, that there's always something more for us to aspire to until we merge with the light, but that's for another podcast.

If you get some time this week, ponder your life.  Do your life review now -- not when it's too late.  What energy are you preparing for yourself over there?  If "heaven" is a bank, how many deposits have you made?