June 2024 - Heaven and Hell – Do We Believe?

One of my friends, shared this story shared in the Easter Sermon by their pastor.  I searched the internet to see if I could find who originally wrote the story, to no avail.  It was quoted in many blogs, church websites, sermon illustration databases, and YouTube.  So, I don’t know the author.

“In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?” The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.” “Nonsense” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?” The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.” The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.” The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.” The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one has ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.” “Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.” The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?” The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her this world would not and could not exist.” Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.” To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear her loving voice, calling down from above."

Everything I know about Hell, I learned from Dante’s Inferno.  The Bible says very little about Hell.  The Bible only says a little bit more about Heaven, in terms of a life after this life.  But using the story above, as a springboard for conversation, what I realize is that I know what Hell is.  It may be darkness, silence, and oblivion, as much as it could be the fiery fires that Dante suggests.  In either case, it is the absence of God.  If Hell is the absence of God, then Heaven is the presence of God.  And as Jesus told his disciples, the Kingdom of God comes near to us all the time.  Or as the one twin expresses.  We are surrounded by God.  We are of God.  It is in God that we live.  Without God, this world and we would not and could not exist.  And sometimes, when we are silent and we focus to really listen, you can perceive God’s presence, and hear God’s loving voice, calling.

Come to Worship!  Let’s listen for the voice of God together!

Blessings!

Alan