BLOGGING TOWARD SUNDAY…

Not too long ago, I had a member who decided to withdraw from my church because of her perception that I do not believe in hell. Nothing could be further from the truth, but she never asked for any clarification from me on the subject.

The truth is that I do believe in hell, for not only have I seen it, I have also occasionally experienced it. The difference between this woman and me is that I understand hell as a condition rather than a destination. Thomas Merton, speaking on the subject of atheism, said, “There are atheists who fight God and atheists who claim to believe in Him: what they both have in common is hatred of life, the fear of the unpredictable, the dread of grace, and the refusal of every spiritual gift.” A better definition of hell I have not come across.

Merton went on to point out the evil in all of us, calling it a blindness with which we must never cease to struggle. Hell, for me, is experienced by those who give up that struggle, then impose their resulting  struggle on the whole human race.

I have met a few such people, but even they are not beyond the mercy of God. Their hell, like all hells, is self-imposed, but even for them, the final word will be God’s, and it will be grace.

Filed under: Blogging Toward Sunday