|
The Opposite of Heaven
King of Horror, American author of supernatural fiction, Stephen King, wrote this: Alone. It is the most awful word in the English tongue. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it and hell is only a poor synonym.
Alone.
I have read one of his books – Pet Sematary which scared me so much I have not read another. Feeling alone is the horror of that book; alone in death and in life. In the pet cemetery, reanimated animals were completely opposite from what the beloved pet was like in life. The reanimated pet made their owners feel isolated and alone with no possibility of reunion.
In the second chapter of Genesis, the speaker, presumably God, says, “It is not good for the human to be alone. I will create another. That will help.” The surgeon general has declared that there is a loneliness epidemic in the United States. One researcher has concluded that widespread loneliness poses health risks as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes daily.
Although there is a distinct difference between being alone and lonely (some can be by themselves and feel happy. Others can be surrounded by people and feel lonely), Stephen King believes that hell is a synonym of alone. Interestingly enough, the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church agrees. It is written that hell is a complete separation (aloneness) from God.
At our discussion groups this past week, we discussed an article from the Wall Street Journal about hell. I was asked two main questions:
Is hell a physical place or a state of mind?
Is hell present now, on earth, or is it experienced after death?
In Anglican theological tradition, I answered with this: yes. Is it physical or a state of mind – yes. Is it present now or after death – yes.
My understanding of hell has been shaped by pastoral relationships with addicts. Whether by drugs or alcohol, the user experiences isolation from family, friends, and, frankly, their own sanity. An alcoholic who gave me permission to share his story said this about hell: I am not afraid of hell because I lived it. The only thing I fear is slipping back into my addiction which will again separate me from everyone I love.
I have witnessed addicts turn their life around. There is a lot of good news there. In this sense, their present experience of aloneness/hell can be transformed into connection and sanity.
One of the difficulties of the doctrinal premise of hell is God’s mercy, love and grace. How can hell exist since God is all loving and merciful? British writer, literary scholar, and Anglican lay theologian, C.S. Lewis, wrote this about hell:
All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek, find. Those who knock, it is opened.
Using Jesus’ words of “ask; knock; seek”, the author believes the soul that seeks joy will find it. Lewis also writes that at the entrance to hell there is a bus with an open door. It is headed to heaven. The bus is waiting for anyone who is willing to receive God’s grace and love. Hell is a place where people choose not to love and therefore remain separated. They are there not of God’s will but of their own.
English poet, civil servant, and author of the 1667 poem Paradise Lost, John Milton, wrote this:
The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.
I have met people who can make the sunniest day feel cloudy and gloomy. Conversely, I surround myself with people who can take a gloomy day and make it shine.
In comparison, hell is often described as an isolated dark jail cell; heaven is an open field full of people you love. Hell is alone; Heaven is connection. We can do things on this earth to separate and make our own jail cell. We can also ask, seek, and find connection with one another, with God and even with our own sanity.
- Rev. Dave
| 
