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What is Hell like
Near Death
There a lots of personal testimonies of people who have had near death experiences. They travel down a tunnel of light and meet Jesus or a being of light at the other end. I’ve never heard anyone tell of having a near death trip to hell. If they have, they are not talking.
Thus aside from a few Bible references about gnashing teeth and the parable of the Rich man and Lazarus we are left mostly with Dante’s Inferno as a picture of hell.
Parable of Death
I did hear another image; though I don’t recall the source. It goes like this. If you are so unfortunate as to end up in hell you might find yourself at a banquet table laden with all kinds of wonderful food. Doesn’t sound to bad. Here is the hellish part. All of the utensils are three feet long. There is no way you are ever going to pick up that fork and reach it to your mouth. You spend eternity faced with all this great stuff and can’t touch it. For company you will have a large group of nasty, bitter, unpleasant companions.
Heaven
Now as this fable goes heaven is not much different. There you will find the same banquet table and the same wonderful collection of great food. You will also find the same oversized table ware. Here is the difference. In heaven the guests at this feast feed each other!
Larson
Gary Larzon the cartoonist behind The Farside has given us some other thoughtful images of hell. In one great cartoon a devil is standing at a doorway with a newly arrived guest in hell. In the room beyond them are row upon row of banjo players. The capture reads, “This is your room Maestro.” Perhaps hell is tailor made to fit our unique dislikes.
It is interesting that in this Post-Christian era Hollywood seems to be fascinated with demons and angels, the devil and the pits of hell. There are several new movies with such stories each new year. You can be sure Hollywood expects torment, and pain to be a large part of any time in hell.
So take your pick or imagine your own view, hell is not a pleasant place. Meanwhile, while we live here, let’s not practice for hell. Jordan Peterson often says that you may not be able to make suffering better but you can make it like hell. No matter how bad things may be, we can choose to make them better. We can choose to bring a little light into the darkness. We can choose to bring a touch of heaven into another’s hell on earth. We can even find reasons to be grateful.
One Example
My late wife ,Lily, as the years passed and she gradually got worse she learned this lesson well. Before going to the hospital yet again, she would gather her devotionals, her Bible and her praise CDs. Then she would say, “I wonder who I will get to witness to this time?”
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