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I was baptized an infant into the Roman Catholic Church; and was eventually
enrolled in catechism where I completed First Holy Communion and
Confirmation. Although catechism did a good job of instilling within me the
reality of hell's eternal fires; it wasn't until I saw a painting by Gustave Doré
depicting a scene from Dante Alighieri's Inferno that I realized the degree of
despair gripping the minds and hearts of people in hell.
People down there know it's permanent; that's what makes hell so much
worse than any other source of misery one can possibly imagine. If only they
could see a light at the end of the tunnel; but that's just it: there is no end
of the tunnel; it's like a Gerbil exercise wheel; within which the little rodents
spin, and spin, and spin, and get nowhere.
They say hope springs eternal in the human heart. Well; not down there.
No; down there hope is futile. The fires are bad enough; but it's the
permanence of hell that I would imagine hurts the most.
I sometimes wish there were tour buses to hell so people could see what's in
store for them down there; and not only the degree of suffering that people
can expect in the next life, but also hell's impact upon the human mind.
People have been filtering into perdition not only since the time of Christ,
but since before the Step Pyramid of Djoser, and even before the Flood. I
won't speculate how many years that might be, but h.sapiens is thought
by some to have achieved full behavioral modernity something like 50,000
years ago. Whether that extends clear on back to Adam and Eve I have no
clue; but just think: if it does, then Cain and others from his era have been
down in the netherworld all this time.
It's difficult for the human mind to appreciate 50,000 years. I've been on the
Earth for just 74, and I've noticed that my childhood is so far in the past to
me now as to seem more like a fantasy than a memory. But you know;
when you're talking about eternity, 50,000 years isn't even a drop in the
bucket. If it were a drop in the bucket, it would be a bucket with no bottom;
which is roughly akin to the futility of a gnat attempting to drink up the
Atlantic ocean. It would also be akin to Forrest Gump thinking he could fill a
sieve with water faster by dipping it into a bucket instead of using the tap.
But just think: time stands still in hell: it's for the now; it's an existence.
People who arrived there yesterday didn't begin doing time in jail like
Lindsay Lohan expecting to get out some day; nor is perdition a temporary
tour of duty like shipping out to Afghanistan. No, people in hell are in it as
perpetual residents; they're in a rut.
They go year, after year, after year, after year, with no relief from the pain
and discomfort: no vacations, no recreation, no reading materials, and no
hobbies-- there's absolutely nothing to do but reminisce and writhe in fire.
The mental atrophy, and the boredom that must result from that kind of
mindless existence is beyond estimation.
In life, everybody enjoys God's blessings; even the really bad people. We're
all breathing fresh air, basking in sunshine, drinking cool water, savoring
tasty foods, listening to birds chirp, star gazing at night, throwing snow balls
at each other in winter, river rafting, fishing, snow skiing, tending gardens,
pruning shrubs, greeting friends during the holidays, spending days with
grandkids; and all that sort of thing. In the Bible's hell, there are no
blessings of any kind at all: only perpetual sadness, vexation, despair, and
want.
In hell's unruly society; it's reasonable to expect quarrels, bickering, hard
feelings, vendettas, rivalry, selfishness, insensitivity, irritation, aggravation,
and ugly words exchanged between people. Is there really any good reason
to be courteous and/or respect your fellow man's human rights in the Bible's
hell; or to be kind, forgiving, affable, genial, courteous, cordial, charitable,
altruistic, tolerant, generous, and patient? I was once discussing the
netherworld with a co-worker and he remarked: "Hell won't be so bad; I'll
have plenty of friends down there." No; he won't.
And the din: think of the volume of noise down there with all the wailing and
sobbing, and the screams, shrieks, yelps, howls, and gnashing teeth.
Conditions are really bad, and everyone is sad, blue, and lonely. After a few
years of the conditions I'm describing, I should think most folks break, and
go mad from the stress.
But just imagine bringing with you a craving for tobacco with none available.
Or longing for a cocktail with no liquor in sight. A desire for music, with no
way to produce it. A skill for writing, with no pen and paper. Yearning for a
walk out in nature, with no world to do it in.
People in the Bible's hell will never again smell a sea breeze, sit in the shade
of a tree, take deep breaths of mountain-fresh air, play at sports, hear a bird
chirp, see a sunset, watch a lunar eclipse, jog in the park, strum a guitar,
enjoy a Christmas dinner with loved ones; nor make little pigs of themselves
gobbling barbecued spare ribs and corn on the 4th of July.
Sports and recreation are gone: no more World Series, no more Super Bowl,
no more Olympics, no more Las Vegas, no more Indian casinos, no more
lottery, no more Lego World, no more Sea World, no more NASCAR, no more
golf, no more surfing, et al.
No baths, no showers, no sleep, no TV, no radio, no iPods, no computers, no
Twitter, no texting, no FaceBook, no YouTube, no MySpace, no internet, no
clean sheets, no breakfast, no lunch, and no dinner. No snacks, no gum, no
candy, no flowers, no parks, no rivers, no snow, no seasons, no picnics, no
malls, no fast food, no trades, no careers, no trendy fashions, no jewelry, no
cosmetics, no concerts, no operas, and no hobbies; absolutely nothing of
this world that brings people the pleasures and the satisfactions of just being
alive.
No pets are allowed in the Bible's hell and no flowers or vegetation of any
kind. The absence of birds, fish, and animals of course precludes the citizens
of hell ever again spending a day at the zoo. The one advantage of the lack
of pets and vegetation in hell is the absence of fleas, mosquitoes, and
allergies. I suppose you could say that's at least one good thing about it.
There's a bright side to everything I guess; even to that place.
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