As a child growing up Southern Baptist, my understanding and image of hell was a lake of fire that those confined to hell could never escape from. While it seemed awful, the notion of burning for eternity seemed too abstract. The past several years, as I have studied and pondered things such as sin or heaven and hell, Ive developed a belief that hell is not a place one goes to only after their life on Earth has ended. Hell can be experienced in the here and now, just as heaven can be. Thats not to say that theres not a version of either that exists in another realm after this mortal life ends. If there is such an existence, what would it consist of? I have a feeling its not a one-size-fits-all experience. For example, I can imagine that a father who ignores his child in this world may be made to watch all the great moments he missed - the birth, the naps in your arms, the smiles/grins, the bright-eyed wonderment, the first rolling over, etc.- and feel the longing of wanting to be there to interact but without being able to satisfy that want, being overwhelmed with feelings of regret.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 22:55:54 +0000
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