A couple had been married for 60 years. They were far from rich and had to watch the pennies. But they were still in very good health, largely due to the wife's insistence on plenty of healthy foods and exercise for the last decade.
Sadly, their good health didn't help on a rare trip abroad when their plane crashed, despatching them to Heaven. But at the pearly gates St. Peter took them to a beautiful mansion, furnished in gold and fine silks, with a fully stocked kitchen and a waterfall in the bath, a maid was hanging up their favourite clothes.
The old man asked Peter how much all this was going to cost. “Why, nothing,” Peter replied, “Remember, this is Heaven.”
The old man looked out the window and saw a championship golf course, finer and more beautiful than any on Earth. “What are the greens fees?” he grumbled “This is Heaven,” St. Peter replied. “You can play for free every day.”
Next they went to the clubhouse and saw the lavish buffet lunch, with every imaginable cuisine laid out before them, from seafood to steaks to exotic deserts, and free flowing beverages.
“Don't even ask,” said St. Peter. “This is Heaven, it is all free for you to enjoy.” The old man looked around and glanced nervously at his wife. “Well, where are the low fat and low cholesterol foods, and the decaffeinated tea?” he asked.
“That's the best part,” St. Peter replied. “You can eat and drink as much as you like of whatever you like, and you will never get fat or sick. This is Heaven!”
The old man still wasn’t happy, “No gym to work out at?”
“Not unless you want to,” was the answer.
“No testing my sugar or blood pressure or...”
“Never again. All you do here is enjoy yourself.”
Then the old man glared at his wife and said, “You and your bran! We could have been here ten years ago!

The world as it is and the world as we would wish it to be are sometimes at odds. The good and the not so good rub shoulders. In contrast, the Christian theology  of heaven presents a hope of perfection. But the object isn’t to get there as soon as possible. In fact it’s the opposite. Our aim should be to bring heaven to earth. Our individual contribution can make a great deal of difference to the end product. John Wesley had the right idea: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
How much of a contrast with present reality is that I wonder?