Life is a journey and every journey has a destination. The
destination that awaits us at the end of our lives is only one of two places.
Luckily the place we will end up spending all of eternity is totally our
choice.
At one end of the journey we have heaven where we get to
have the beatific vision of God. A person cannot begin to understand what true
love really is until they are fully immersed in love itself. There are no words
in any language that can describe what it is like to be in the presence of God.
At the other end of the journey is hell. In hell there is
only total love of self. Again, there are no words that can describe what it is
like to be in hell.
God created man to live with him forever in heaven. God sends
no man to hell. God finds man there by his own choosing. If hell is such a
horrible, horrible place why would any person ever willingly choose to go
there?
God is ἀγάπη, agape, sacrificial love. It
is the total love of the other. Someone who chooses hell has only total love of
self. For someone who only has love of self agape is hated above all else.
Agape can be physically painful. They will do everything they can to get as far
away from it as possible. This means choosing hell, choosing total love of
self, over being in the presence of love itself.
God offers heaven to each and every man when we pass from
this life into the next. To borrow an image from scripture, we will stand alone
with Jesus over a charcoal fire. For the person who had never been introduced
to Jesus he will be his best advocate for them. As he did with Saint Peter he
will ask each of us a simple question – do you love me above all else (agape)?
Very few of us can answer that with a truthful yes. As long as our answer is
not no we will be given a chance to perfect the love we do have until only
agape remains.
For those who answer no to his question Jesus will honor their
choice made freely and they will be left utterly alone with only their love of
self. They will be in hell.
Which direction are you traveling in this life? Is what you
do done for the glory of God in love and service of others or is what you do
done for love of self? One way leads to eternal happiness and the other leads
to utter loneliness.
