Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Valhalla vs. Heaven

 




     I watched a video today over at Vimeo, called "The Saga of Biorn" It's a cool little short about this old Viking named Biorn (above) and his quest to die in battle and gain entry into Valhalla. Theology and mythology aside, it's a fun, well done, entertaining, and funny short film.

     What really got me though, was the ending. (I'm going to ruin it here, so go watch it first, no, seriously, it's only seven minutes long. Go) Ok, funny right? and that thing with the wheel when he gets buried by the nuns? Classic. Seriously though, what struck me about this was the depiction of heaven.

     See in the short, heaven is this bland, boring and lame. It's where nuns literally stand aroung doing nothing, wearing their halos. Valhalla on the other hand is a fun, wild party. The message is clear. Nuns go to heaven, men go to Valhalla.

     Is this how we see heaven? As a culture? Harps, lyres and all that jazz (but no Jazz - Elevator music)? That's how I saw it for a long time. Then I went through an ascetic phase, where I was planning on prostrating myself before the Lord for all of eternity. Neither of those things are very appealing to us now. Then I realized that there will be a new earth as well as a new heaven.and God has always wanted us to enjoy and shepherd His creation, heaven may not be the debauchery of Valhalla, but it will be a party.

-Kevin

1 comment:

  1. Amen brother. Amen.

    Just to stay consistent, I planned on finding something in your post I disagreed with so I could argue with you. Sadly I couldn't. ;)

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