Hell and Heaven
I have random philosophy moments. They are pretty topical and sometimes kind of specific, so they are not very practical to record. However, I'm willing to try them out, categorizing them by the LJ tagging system. So, without further ado, here's some thoughts on Hell that came to me this evening...
We throw around the word Hell alot. Even some of the most devout Christians I know occassionally coin an earthly situation as Hell. But we are wrong to call earthly experiences Hell.
Al, my pastor was telling me about his experience of attending one college while his sweetheart attended another, out of state. He says it was Hell. In response I should have laughed and told him it couldn't have been that bad. And if he had asked why or became offended, I should've told him that suffering for the sake of love is a pleasure Hell could never know. So, it couldn't have been that bad. You might say he was just using an expression, and that I'm just being a bit stiff about things. Well, I do concede that we need to pick and choose our battles, but I believe that insisting on meaning the words that we say is a battle that the Scriptures pretty consistently choose.
To experience Hell is to be deprived of all those graces which one takes for granted, first and foremost the freedom to embrace God and people. Take suffering for love's sake. We ignobly moan in our noble labors. In Hell, it is the small voice that complains "too much pain, this is not worth it" that wins us over, because in Hell people do not look beyond themselves. Now, on the Earth the same might happen. Than again, the voice which says "remember the worthiness of the labor" might win instead. On the Earth such graces as personal determination in the face of personal selfishness may be given.
Take also the grace of our moral resilience. When we are disobedient to our conscience we are given guilt to help us regret, so to help us from erring again. So guilt is a grace, which helps us to keep a consistent standard in life. Imagine if it was taken away, and our conscience was able to be re-shaped by the choices we make. Being the imperfect, often disobient creatures that we are, we would be doomed to a set of moral laws ever carved by our whims and indulgences.
Further, the grace of learning from our mistakes is another which is taken for granted, everytime the lesson-bearing mistake is repeated. In this world where we are able, though usually slow, to learn, at least we are able. In Hell there are no such graces.
So we call this Earth Hell. On the other side of err, we call the joyful moments of the Earth Heaven (weddings, worshippings, etc.) We think too highly of our own experiences. We have been covered by the shadows of Hell and Heaven, but we've neither experienced anything so terrible as the real Heal, nor anything so wonderful as the real Heaven. One reason for this is the finality that is necessary for either situation. One of the cruelest vices of Hell is that there is no opportunity for stepping out, and that same restriction, in Heaven, is one of the greatest sources of comfort. So we cannot truly foretaste Hell or Heaven, for they can only truly be experienced in their fullness, allowing no other experience once either is begun.
That sweetheart who was so painfully seperated from that pastor was brought back to him at education's end. The suffering was temporary; let us not seek the depression of Hell. There is much thanksgiving to be had in the realization that we have never truly had to experience Hell, and that in Christ we will never have to. And such thanksgiving helps us to pass under shadow of Heaven.
Granted, the Scriptures say little about Hell (and Heaven) in absolute clarity. These have been some conclusions that I believe are implied; I may well be wrong.
We're not yet in Hell.
We're not yet in Heaven.
For us it's been more like Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. There is both good and bad and opportunities to pursue either. It wasn't so bad for Charlie Brown; it's not so bad for us.
Hark the herald, angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn king!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinner reconciled!'
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
'Christ is born in Bethlehem'
Hark! The herald, angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King!'
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The hearld angels sing
'Glory to the newborn King!'
Yours,
Jake
We throw around the word Hell alot. Even some of the most devout Christians I know occassionally coin an earthly situation as Hell. But we are wrong to call earthly experiences Hell.
Al, my pastor was telling me about his experience of attending one college while his sweetheart attended another, out of state. He says it was Hell. In response I should have laughed and told him it couldn't have been that bad. And if he had asked why or became offended, I should've told him that suffering for the sake of love is a pleasure Hell could never know. So, it couldn't have been that bad. You might say he was just using an expression, and that I'm just being a bit stiff about things. Well, I do concede that we need to pick and choose our battles, but I believe that insisting on meaning the words that we say is a battle that the Scriptures pretty consistently choose.
To experience Hell is to be deprived of all those graces which one takes for granted, first and foremost the freedom to embrace God and people. Take suffering for love's sake. We ignobly moan in our noble labors. In Hell, it is the small voice that complains "too much pain, this is not worth it" that wins us over, because in Hell people do not look beyond themselves. Now, on the Earth the same might happen. Than again, the voice which says "remember the worthiness of the labor" might win instead. On the Earth such graces as personal determination in the face of personal selfishness may be given.
Take also the grace of our moral resilience. When we are disobedient to our conscience we are given guilt to help us regret, so to help us from erring again. So guilt is a grace, which helps us to keep a consistent standard in life. Imagine if it was taken away, and our conscience was able to be re-shaped by the choices we make. Being the imperfect, often disobient creatures that we are, we would be doomed to a set of moral laws ever carved by our whims and indulgences.
Further, the grace of learning from our mistakes is another which is taken for granted, everytime the lesson-bearing mistake is repeated. In this world where we are able, though usually slow, to learn, at least we are able. In Hell there are no such graces.
So we call this Earth Hell. On the other side of err, we call the joyful moments of the Earth Heaven (weddings, worshippings, etc.) We think too highly of our own experiences. We have been covered by the shadows of Hell and Heaven, but we've neither experienced anything so terrible as the real Heal, nor anything so wonderful as the real Heaven. One reason for this is the finality that is necessary for either situation. One of the cruelest vices of Hell is that there is no opportunity for stepping out, and that same restriction, in Heaven, is one of the greatest sources of comfort. So we cannot truly foretaste Hell or Heaven, for they can only truly be experienced in their fullness, allowing no other experience once either is begun.
That sweetheart who was so painfully seperated from that pastor was brought back to him at education's end. The suffering was temporary; let us not seek the depression of Hell. There is much thanksgiving to be had in the realization that we have never truly had to experience Hell, and that in Christ we will never have to. And such thanksgiving helps us to pass under shadow of Heaven.
Granted, the Scriptures say little about Hell (and Heaven) in absolute clarity. These have been some conclusions that I believe are implied; I may well be wrong.
We're not yet in Hell.
We're not yet in Heaven.
For us it's been more like Merry Christmas Charlie Brown. There is both good and bad and opportunities to pursue either. It wasn't so bad for Charlie Brown; it's not so bad for us.
Hark the herald, angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn king!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinner reconciled!'
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
'Christ is born in Bethlehem'
Hark! The herald, angels sing,
'Glory to the newborn King!'
Hail the heav'n-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all He brings
Ris'n with healing in His wings
Mild He lays His glory by
Born that man no more may die
Born to raise the sons of earth
Born to give them second birth
Hark! The hearld angels sing
'Glory to the newborn King!'
Yours,
Jake