As the final question in my Thoughts on Heaven posts (part 1. and part 2), what will stories be like in Heaven? In Heaven we will be made perfect, we will at last be fully sanctified, but how will this affect the ways we tell stories? What will story structure be like then? Will we still see characters venture down the hero’s journey? Stories now are based on overcoming a conflict: an evil king, personal failure, a character flaw, but how will this be different in the unchanging state of Heaven? If we are no longer being transformed in nature (we will continue to learn, develop, and discover), will we find another way to create plot and story? Will conflict as the foundation for stories be replaced by something else? We have no way of knowing what stories will be like, but telling stories is such a part of who we are that surely it will continue on into eternity.
Another question I have is: will our stories from this age still be enjoyable? How will we, once in our final glorified state, relate back to our current tales about personal growth and overcoming an obstacle? Will our stories about imperfect characters, fighting evil or discovering who they are, be irrelevant to perfected us in Heaven? Or will our current stories be like children’s books which we have outgrown but still have fond memories of? And how will we relate to our memories of this life?
Will our perfection prevent us from relating to our imperfect selves now? Will our current struggles be alien to us in Heaven? I cannot imagine so, and that gives me hope both for my memories of this life and the stories we now tell. I am no longer nine years old, but I still appreciate my memories from when I was nine, and even when made completely whole these fallen earthly memories will forever be a part of the story of who I am.
