There was a recent Catholic evangelist who was well known to say “I am not going to hell for you people.” He would say his mission was to teach the truth and he would not shirk his responsibility, or chance damnation for softening the truth. He hearkened back to a “hellfire and brimstone” type preacher. At first it was catchy, but it always made me uncomfortable. How supercilious, how unloving and self-motivated was his “sacrifice” of teaching the truth. I have been wrestling with that saying for quite some time. I think because I have tasted a living hell on earth. Nothing prepares you for the on-going work of grief. That’s why you really can’t scare someone into a relationship with God. If you try and warn a grieving parent of hell, they most likely will tell you that they are already there, do your worst. But love, love and kindness can be powerful soft cords to bring one back home, not to bind us with, but more of a silken guide.
If you try and warn a grieving parent of hell, they most likely will tell you that they are already there, do your worst.
I think of St. Maximillian Kolbe who out of love descended into the hell that was known as Auschwitz. He offered to take the place of a man, who was both a husband and father, in the starvation bunker. Fr. Kolbe and nine other prisoners were stripped naked and placed into a bunker of total darkness to die. He sang hymns, he prayed with other prisoners, he went to hell for another, simply for love of the other. After two weeks in the starvation bunker he was still alive and was injected with carbolic acid to end his life. His remains were burned with other prisoners. He did not rant or rave, he did not wag fingers and threaten, he was willing to go to hell for someone, a living hell on earth.
And whose example did he follow? I must surmise that he followed Him who he believed was the Christ. Many Christian faiths have the Apostles’ or Nicene Creed as part of their tradition. In it they all state that Christ descended into hell, or He descended to the dead. Christ Himself went to hell for us. Tradition has it that He went in search of our first parents, Adam and Eve, to bring them out of that darkness. What was Christ’ motivation to go to hell? Love I am told, a love for each of us so intense that it cannot be expressed in words. You could say that by His cross, He chose to go to hell for us. Makes the fiery preacher’s words even more distasteful, he was not willing to go where His own master had trod for love of his flock.
“I am not going to hell for you,” almost gives one carte blanche to avoid any inconvenience on the part of our wounded brothers and sisters. Almost an air of condescension, that our life is more important than theirs and not worth the exchange. Shouldn’t we be willing to open our heart to all their pain and confusion, their despair and isolation? There exists so much hell on earth, a hell that can only be alleviated by the presence of another soul.
I am humbled and grateful by the company of those who have entered into our hell with us. They don’t try to fix it, or smooth platitudes on it, they simply are willing to enter into the darkness and be a companion. They don’t bully us into being cheerful, quite the contrary, they just are willing to quietly share our sorrow. I think of one person in particular who has been so faithful and generous. She has a smile that by its very beauty cuts through the darkness, she expects no smile back, it is just a gift freely given in the dark. Her smile reminds me of the goodness to be found in this world, a testament to a God unafraid to descend into hell.
I loved this, as I do most every other entry.