The area we live in is booming. The fields are growing houses, and there are rivers of tail lights flooding the little roads that used to flow freely. As I sat in the car, waiting again, I thought about how the people who lived here in generations past used to get around. It was walking, mostly, at the pace of people or animals, and even with the traffic my car is faster than that. On the other hand, I know that walking is healthier, and also when I walk I often bump into people I know and we might have a friendly chat—which isn’t possible when we only glimpse each other through passing windscreens. All of this got me thinking about a question I’d never considered before: what kind of transportation will we use in Heaven?
When people imagine future utopias, they usually include some varieties of impressively fast transportation technologies—flying cars, jetpacks, spaceships, and the like. These kinds of technologies are simply more advanced versions of what we have already. They get people from A to B even faster, even easier, and isn’t that the goal?
It’s our goal, so it makes sense that our visions of progress would aim in that direction. I’m just not convinced that Heaven will apply the same assumptions and priorities to its transportation systems. When Jesus visited Mary and Martha’s house, Martha got upset because Mary sat and listened to Jesus instead of helping her with all the jobs that needed to be done. Jesus’ response was, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). We live in a world where the transportation network is built on the priorities of Martha. Frenetic and fast, efficient and focused, anxious and grumbling constantly about anyone who seems to be holding us up—as Martha grumbled against Mary. I wonder what it would look like to move through the world more like a Mary? If we truly focused ourselves first and foremost on the Lord—the one true necessity—and learned at his feet how to love like he does, how would that reshape our priorities? And how would our new priorities reshape our transportation networks?
I can’t tell you the answer. I’m too used to living like Martha, and driving like Martha, and I find it hard to even imagine what the answer would look like. All I can say is that I expect the ways we get around in Heaven to be quite different from what we’ve grown accustomed to. I know from scripture that God cares deeply about people, and I expect that priority will be reflected in everything, everywhere in Heaven. He also cares deeply about all he has made, and I expect the ways we get around will reflect a care and attention to God’s creation that is usually absent in our current systems. There is also the reality that in Heaven, there’s no time limit. Life is not short there. Death will not be breathing down our necks. Age will not be encroaching. Youth will not begin fading as quickly as it blooms. We’ll have time. So will we still emphasise speed above almost everything else in almost every activity? I doubt it. I don’t know exactly how it will look, but I’d imagine we’ll prefer to enjoy God’s new creation, and each other, while we’re getting from A to B in Heaven. I think we’ll look back and realise that the frantic pace of earth often robbed us of seeing and savouring God’s good gifts. And while I’m curious about how Heavenly transportation systems will reflect Heavenly priorities, I’m more concerned to start reflecting those priorities now, however I can.
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