The only hell of concern to me is the living hell, in this life, here and now, that people create for themselves and one another.
Today, the Central African Republic is a prime example.
There is a history to this conflict that goes back to 1960, but as far as I can tell this land has never known peace at any time.
It’s a matter of what the people there choose to want from day to day.
Little else but a living hell can result when each person chooses to be a small black hole that takes, takes, takes, and never gives back.
I lived for five years in an area where, on the street, at least five times a day I’d hear one person tell another, “I’ll slap the shit out your ass,” or the equivalent. Parents say the same thing to their children, in public.
In a recent post, I said, “Most poor people stay poor by creating poverty.”
In the world of those whom Jesus sought out, much of what mainstream society calls “normal” just does not apply.
The poverty and violence that prevail in such places are a matter of what the people there choose to want from day to day.
There are those who need to hear me say:
I came up in a world where you could walk anywhere you’d want, anytime of the day or night, and nobody would bother you.
It just wasn’t going to happen.
There’s no reason for your world to be any different.
Each of us is constantly creating heaven or hell in this life, here and how.
It’s all a matter of what you choose to want from day to day.
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The Bible includes significant misdirection about what to choose to want, that can lead to a living hell within one’s own soul. I will examine that next Saturday.
(Reblogged 2018-01-04.)
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