A tale from long ago emerges now on a recurring basis: A man (always a man back then) dies and wakes up to a scenario of absolute peace and beauty, surrounded by beautiful sights and sounds and friendly and welcoming people. All his needs are met; he has no tasks to perform or responsibilities to uphold. He feels delighted to enjoy all that the afterlife has endowed him with. But, before too much time passes, he starts to feel somewhat disillusioned, even restless. He asks his nearby neighbor if he too finds Heaven boring. "Heaven?" says the guy, "You're not in heaven. This is Hell."
Earthly Corollary: If you live your life abiding by life's strictures and rules, and work industriously toward the time you will not need to work but are able to comfortably retire, you may at last be admitted to that long-anticipated place of sanctuary. A place of peace and quiet, beautiful in its serenity where all your needs are met. No need to concern yourself with commonplace issues such as heating the house, tending the lawn, maintaining an automobile, cleaning your space, doing your laundry, and even shopping, preparing and serving your meals. Everything you need is done for you in a sociable manner. The only exception to the perfect existence cited in the above tale is that your still mortal coil is subject to the inevitable vagaries and ills wrought by the passage of time. So the one thing that prevents a perfect heavenly existence may be that which precludes living in a perfect Hell.
"What fools we mortals be."
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