The 9 People You Meet in Heaven

Matthew 5:1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons [4] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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I get the sense that these people are the kind of people who would be able to appreciate God's blessing, even in the midst of suffering. It almost seems as if God's Kingdom, which is really what is being described here, is open to all who would enjoy this kind of life - a life of purity, mercy, humility and of course Love. Last week I had a thought about the end times. I'm not really someone who studies apocalyptic theology much, but I was just thinking about God and what it might be like in the end. I imagined that Jesus returned and offered everyone the option of going to heaven or staying here on earth. He made it clear that He was Love and that after he left, there would be no Love left in the world. Many were incredulous about this. They assured him that they were quite capable of love without his help. He explained to them that their love was selfish and destructive and that up til this point they had survived off of the residual love of an invisible community of saints. They were still incredulous, assuring him that there was work to be done to save the earth and heal mankind of its trouble. Jesus reiterated that all creation was welcome to come with him and be made new in His kingdom of love. Finally, he gathered up the volunteers and left. The world changed immediately. There were no more acts of charity on the face of the earth. The impulse to act generously and heroically no longer existed in mankind. A few tried vainly to save the earth from its march towards global warming, but there seemed to be little in it for the individual, so no one wanted to invest time, money or effort. The downward spiral towards chaos and misery happened quickly culminating with the eventual uninhabitability of the earth. All died and then the earth was wiped out by the implosion of the sun.... Meanwhile, in heaven, all were offered luxurious accommodations in a beach side hotel, but no one wanted to take a room. They all just wanted to be together in the lobby or on the beach, and they all continued to share anything they were given with the others. The more luxury they were offered, the more they would try to give it away. Jesus played host, walking around from person to person, announcing this gift or that, and he didn't need to say what they already knew, which was that the greatest gift was living in the Kingdom of Love together with those who knew the value of Love.