Gary Black - Preparing for Heaven: What Dallas Willard Taught Me About Living, Dying, and Eternal Life

TO SUSAN JEAN BLACKTHE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN COMES EVER CLOSER WHEN YOU ARE NEAR.

Were a star quenched on high,

For ages would its light,

Still traveling downward from the sky,

Shine on our mortal sight.

So when a great man dies,

For years beyond our ken,

The light he leaves behind him lies

Upon the paths of men.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, CHARLES SUMNER

Contents

I thank God for Preparing for Heaven. We can be grateful that Gary Black Jr. has been able to bring to us the penetrating insights of Dallas Willard on the subject of death and the life to come. And Gary does it all with exceptional skill and sensitivity. Dallas made a wise choice in asking Gary to bring this material into published form.

I consider it providential that God would bring a world-renowned philosopher and a bright, young theologian together in a unique working relationship for the final years of Dallass earthly life. Their prolonged discussions about life in the Kingdom of the Heavens (beginning now and continuing on into eternity), especially as Dallas was facing his own death, make for riveting reading.

I was particularly moved when, in the midst of their work on several writing projects, Dallas emphatically insisted to Gary, You must immediately stop flattering me. After Gary recovered from the shock of this statement, Dallas went on to challenge Gary that he must be willing to take apart every one of my ideas, hold it up to the light, scrutinize every word, as if the truth itself hangs in the balance.... Youve got to be hard on me and my ideas. Ill have it no other way. After Gary agreed to this new arrangement, Dallas declared, Okay, lets start. Where do you think I am wrong?

I am so glad for this turn of events. Following this crucial conversation, the relationship between them changed from a starstruck student trying to faithfully record the words of the master teacher into a collaborative search for truth. And it was by talking tough, as Dallas would sometimes put it, that the insights found here began to emerge. Good for Dallas. Good for Gary.

The genesis for this book grew out of extensive material Dallas had written down for a course he taught at the University of Southern California on death and immortality. And now, with Dallass own impending death, the issues became highly focused and personal. Here is someone who had read, studied, and thought long and hard over the philosophical, religious, and theological dimensions of death and the life to come and who now was himself preparing to make this very transition.

Many will be taken by the moving conversations the two of them had in the final weeks and even hours of Dallass earthly life. And they are moving indeed! But there is more, so much more. Together, they wrestle with thorny questions such as: Is there an intermediate heavenly state before the final resurrection? and Is there work for us to do in heaven?

Perhaps for me, the most striking aspect of this book is Gary and Dallass contention that we will continue to learn and grow and even increase in personal character formation following our bodily death. They take deadly aim at the popular notion that at the moment of death, every ounce of sin is simply erased as if it never existed and that we will become perfectly completed, whole, and finished. Dallas called this the cosmic car wash view of heaven. He clearly understood how devastating this approach was to any serious transformative change in this present life. Given this approach, character development and the transformation of heart, mind, and soul into Christlikeness could then be viewed as nonessential or simply a luxury in the Christian life, certainly having no actual connection with the life to come. In contradistinction, Dallas saw a deep connection between the spiritual formation we are developing now in this life and the formation we will continue to experience into eternity. Our life and death and the life that is to come are delicately and deliberately interconnected. With laser-like insight, Dallas perceived that we would need to grow, develop, learn, and mature in character if we are to endure the eternal realities of the Kingdom of Heaven.

In these pages, Gary explores what Dallas expected would likely be the course of human existence in heaven. Black writes, If you are looking for a grand vision of the type and quality of life that lies far beyond the reach of the current imaginings... if you are looking for a purpose that is worthy of devoting your life to, if you are wondering about the enduring reality of heavenly existence and its eternal call, this book is for you.

At this point, if you are anything like me, you are wondering exactly what biblical evidences or rational justifications there might be for such convictions. Well, friend, you will want to read Preparing for Heaven and then judge for yourself.

Richard J. Foster

May 2015

T he genesis of this book was a series of initially unplanned conversations during Dallas Willards final few months on earth. Beginning in January 2013, Dallas and I spent a good deal of time together working diligently to finish The Divine Conspiracy Continued. When we started our research, Dallas was reasonably hopeful he would recover from his cancer, if not fully, at least enough to finish a few lingering writing projects. He was optimistic about having at least several months, perhaps even years, of life still ahead. This hope was justified by a cautiously optimistic prognosis.

He talked about his outlook for the future one chilly winter morning as we walked through the garden toward his library. The library was located in a little white house that sits on a lot adjacent to the Willards home, which at the time was filled to the rafters with books and boxes of all shapes, conditions, and sizes full of a myriad of subjects. Forrest Gumps momma used to say, Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what youre gonna get. The same was true of the bookshelves and boxes in the Willard library. One never knew what treasure could be found packed away in some lonely corner. It was a perfect space for quiet study and contemplation, where I routinely got lost for hours in deep and meaningful reflection.

Dallas was in good spirits that day. Having recovered from a recent chemotherapy treatment, he shared with me his excitement about starting our new project together. With deliberate movements, he took his time finding the books and papers we needed. We found a collection of used grocery boxes, high atop a row of bookshelves, full of notes and teaching materials he had used in his philosophy classes at the University of Southern California (USC). Many of the subjects covered in The Divine Conspiracy Continued originated from the notes and lectures gathered in an old Brawny paper towel box labeled Professions. Next to it was a Del Monte peaches box labeled Death and Immortality.