A Personal Hell on Earth

To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from him forever by our own free choice.  This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "hell."

-- Catechism of the Catholic Church, verse 1033

Oh, the exquisite pleasure awaiting us in the nine circles of Dante's Inferno.  Really?  It would seem even the Catholic Church defines hell as a "state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God."  This "self-exclusion" means you have made the conscious decision by your own free choice to remain separated from God forever; to live outside of heaven.

It is said that when we die everything becomes crystal clear; there are peace and understanding unknown to us in the physical world.  If this is true, and evidence presented by those who have passed over and returned would bear this out, one would have to immediately admit the life they led did not earn their place in heaven.  Having this afterlife undeniable understanding of everything, then, would dictate they cannot deny the one choice they have; the rational and unavoidable decision to go back and correct their errors, their sins - to try, once again, to get it right.

"Somebody once told me the definition of hell:  Your last day on Earth, the person you became will meet the person you could have become."

-- Anonymous

If this is so, then we do, in fact, make our own hell here on Earth.  If we choose to continually die, time after time, "without repenting and accepting God's merciful love," we will remain "separated from him forever by our own free choice."  In other words, we will continue to live out our own personal hell, right here on earth, until such time as we learn those lessons we are here to learn. 

Is life here really all that bad?  Maybe you can endure hell for a while, yes.  I mean, we all sin, right?  But, what if the perpetual offense and denial you feel toward the ultimate power in the universe are due to you buying into your own bullshit, life after life after life?  Maybe some of us simply forget life is all about learning to be righteous so we can move forward into something better.

“There is no miserable place waiting for you, no hell realm, sitting and waiting like Alaska—waiting to turn you into ice cream. But whatever you call it—hell or the suffering realms—it is something that you enter by creating a world of neurotic fantasy and believing it to be real. It sounds simple, but that's exactly what happens.”

-- Lama Yeshe (1935-1984), Mahayana Tibetan lama

I seriously believe we make our own personal heaven or hell for our "afterlife" right here on Earth.  We may not realize we are, right now, already in an afterlife, one of many we have lived and will live, as we learn by doing penance for past moral indiscretions.  Our personal "self-imposed" hell will continue to feed on us until we see the light.  Only then will we be able to forge ahead instead of being stuck of our own volition.

If you don't learn a lesson, the teaching gets tougher.  In school, you get a tutor, extra homework, or you fail and drop out.  Failing righteousness in this life does not mean the next attempt will be any easier or even the same.  The pimp will become the prostitute, the pusher will become the junkie, the torturer will become tortured.  The only way to learn not to touch a hot, cast iron skillet is to touch it.  The only way to learn not to rape a woman is to be raped and beaten until you learn the horrors she goes through at the hands of evil.  Life can, in all reality, be a bitch.  It is what we make of it.  It can be heaven or hell, over and over, and over again, ad nauseam.  

It is, fortunately, your choice.

"My son, eat honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste; So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; if you have found it, there is prospect, and your hope will not be cut off. For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity."

-- Proverbs 24:13-14, 16

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. He spent 17 years, following his service career, working with the premier, world renowned, Institutional Review Board helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, and wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead Chaplain and Chaplain Program Liaison, at the regional medical center.