IS HELL IN HEAVEN?

There is heaven and there is hell, at least to believers, to those who believe there is eternal life, at least in another form, after death in this life. But are heaven and hell two very separate and very distinct realities? Personally, I don’t believe in an eternal hell, a life without God, fire and brimstone notwithstanding. I believe God loves each and every one of us and always forgives each and every one of us.

Furthermore, if we believe Jesus died for our sins, our sins are forgiven whether or not we may even want them to be forgiven. Yes, in this life we do need to ask forgiveness for our sins, not so much ask God to forgive our sins because, as I said, God already does. That does not mean that God does not care. God does. It simply means that God as Love always forgives. We need to ask forgiveness in this life from those whom we have deliberately hurt in this life by our selfishness. That is not always possible and it is always painful, but we must try.

The real problem that we believers all have if we believe in God’s total forgiveness and God’s gift of eternal life to each one of us is what do we do with the real sinners like Hitler and Stalin to name just two? How can they be in heaven? It just not seem right or fair. And, yes, I have always said that with sin, difference in degree really makes no difference. Stealing a dime and stealing a million is still stealing.

So here’s my guess at Hitler and Stalin being “up there” with Francis of Assisi and how that can be. I have reflected on how my past sins and failings, things done and left undone, haunt me at times today, even those I committed years ago. Yet, at the same time, I love my life and am happy and content. It is only when those memories suddenly pop up that my happiness is tempered for the time being.

Those haunting moments are, if you will, momentary hell moments in my life. They are painful moments in the midst of my happiness and joy. That is how I am beginning to think about hell being in heaven. I can’t believe that when we die our past is completely erased and we start all over again. Maybe we do. But does that mean that I have to be introduced to my parents as if I never knew them? I don’t think so.

In heaven, amid my eternal joy and happiness, there will be times when that happiness will be tempered by the memories of my past sinfulness. I will know that I have been forgiven and will rejoice and be thankful for that. Yet, at the same time there will be the pain that those memories bring with them. Hell in heaven.

Again, that thought, belief, doesn’t give me any freedom to do what is wrong in this life. What it does do, at least for me, is allow me to believe that we are all forgiven and know that the memories of our selfishness in this life, hellish to be sure, will be with us forever even as we revel in God’s love in eternity in heaven.