HELL

When one talks about "Hell" it is usually a reference to that place we hear churches preach about that is eternal fire, pain, and suffering. I admit that would be hell for sure. I have had many discussions with people from various faiths from all over the world about the concept of hell. Other than the depiction we have in the Bible, few other references give us much to go on. The problem though is that many preachers, teachers, or people of faith love to use what little we know as a scare tactic to hopefully get people to believe one way or another. What has ultimately happened is that people have been driven away from church because it is simply to ridiculous to believe. With that, here are my thoughts as to what hell could be if it exist. Keep in mind that I am writing the way I think, not the way people want me to think. I am writing as many believe, but fear to say. Put your seat belt on and let's take a journey. 

If you believe, as I do, that we are born of a loving God then it is somewhat easy to believe in the concept of heaven. I for one sure hope it exists. The problem I see with heaven, as it is taught is how difficult it is to get there. In fact it is nearly impossible unless you have a death bed confession or change of heart right before your last breath. Beings that we are concupiscent (tendency to sin) by nature than we have to accept our own humanity. Sure the Pelegians back in the 4th century spread a heresy that stated that mere man can in fact live a sin free life. If that were the case it certainly negates the need to believe in Christianity. Obviously that sect did not last very long due to the fact that our human temptations at one time or another will get the best of us. Is heaven real? My heart says yes. Can I get there? Once again my heart says yes. 

If Heaven is real, what is the opposite of that wonderful eternal place? That is where things get a bit confusing. As many of you know I am Catholic which means I have taught and been taught the concept of Purgatory. That happens to be a place for us sinful humans to be cleansed prior to entering heaven. It is a little more complex than that however I find it much easier to believe in Purgatory than I do Hell. What is the opposite of Heaven then? Maybe there isn't one. 

If we in fact are born of a loving God then why would there even be a place called Hell? No question there are humans that commit serious sin, BUT, if there is not a degree scale for sin that means all of us could more easily end up in the eternal flame than we could eternal bliss. Personally, I say Hell does not exist as it is described by many churches. I realize in saying that people will label me as non christian, but I believe just the opposite. I believe so strongly in the absolute unconditional love of God that there is NO WAY that he would ever commit someone to hell for eternity. 

That begs the question then, if there is no hell, what is there? Obviously no human being has made that journey and came back to tell us about it. Sure there are lots of near death experience stories that are most likely real but they are NEAR DEATH not death. God did not create within us the opportunity for time travel so all we have is our imagination, which by the way God just so happened to give to us. 

Hell in my opinion is a separation from God. I have no idea how that works I just believe it works. I think the end result though is for us to be in full union with the creator. If we served a God that despised his children so much that he would create a place that was pain and torment for millions of years, forgive me, but I would choose not to serve such a being. I believe with all my heart that God created us out of love for love with total FREE WILL. Within the generations of free will things happen that are outside the control of an individual. We have deformity, mental disease, infant death, world wide poverty and starvation. There are a myriad of reasons not to believe in the love of God yet we do because we understand free will. Why do I mention free will in this blog? Keep reading.

If you look at many of the people that commit serious crimes you will find a high percentage are either abused, addicted, or suffer from some sort of mental illness. Those people, not all, acted not with malice but with an ill formed conscience. If that be the case, and I think it is, why would God send them to the place called Hell forever, when they were in fact products of their environment or of the actions of generations past. I realize I am keeping this simple but the point I am trying to convey is this. I believe that God wants all of us at some point to enter the gates of Heaven, how, I, nor anyone else knows for sure. We have scripture to guide us and preachers to teach us but at the end of the day we ALL SIN. Yes all of us. We enjoy elevating the sins of others while minimizing our own. Regardless I think we should strive to live a life of peace, love, acceptance, forgiveness, and unity. I also think we should place all of our energy into being the person we were created to be. If there is a hell, it is in living a life outside of our passion and purpose. It is living in fear of exposing our deepest thoughts and dreams. If there is a hell it is on earth. Even that however can be changed simply by changing our view. Remember how you see the world creates the world you see. Let's stop living in fear of going to hell and start living in love of going to heaven. God already knows we are sinners, for gosh sakes he created us. I think it is time to face our fears and live our dreams. 

That is my simple answer to, is there a hell?

peace and love

Dale