What if there’s no hell?

May 29, 2011

Dear Dee,

Okay, it’s Sunday now and I’ve been to “church.” Today’s chalice lighting by MM was a nice complement to the sermon, “Have You Got Humanity Fatigue?” Both dealt with the importance of community and how we are all in this boat together. We tend to have tunnel vision and keep ourselves focused on our own paths. But those paths can change directions on us. In my lifetime, I have been very wealthy and now I am a prison inmate who may face homelessness when I get out. How many times did I pull up to a freeway off ramp in my Mercedes and ignore the homeless person there with his cardboard hand-lettered sign begging for my indulgence? It’s a lesson that we ignore the misfortune of others at great peril, for it can easily become us. Hopefully, people can come to that conclusion without having such a stark threat hanging over them.

The ultra-Christians in here don’t believe that a sermon that never mentions God or Jesus can really be a sermon. I have offered to let them read mine, but they aren’t interested. A few weeks ago, Time Magazine ran a cover story entitled, “What if There’s No Hell?” It dealt with a Christian minister who questions the concept that God will send anyone to hell who hasn’t accepted Christ as his personal savior. The minister said he could not conceptualize a god who would have Gandhi burn in hell. I tried to show this article to the Christian boys, but they refused to read it. Questioning just isn’t a part of their journey. And that’s what I like most about UU—questioning is not only encouraged, it’s virtually required. I could never accept a god who gave me a brain and then didn’t allow me to use it.

You are right that my fall from grace did trigger a lot of reflection and self-evaluation. I definitely have a much higher spiritual quotient. Before this, I simply thought that because I didn’t believe in the Biblical description of God, I was therefore an atheist. But I first had to face the question of a higher power when I started the 12-step work. It really doesn’t work unless you have something to give yourself over to and rely on to look after you. That’s when I remembered that, years ago, I had given thought to the existence of an energy field that was all-encompassing. Perhaps I had George Lucas and Star Wars to thank for inspiring that line of inquiry. But it made sense to me and still does. It simply means that “God” is everywhere and in everything that exists. I thought it was every living thing until I started reading The Field, which talks a lot about what happens at the subatomic level and how those atoms and cells communicate with each other.

Well, I’ve gone on quite long enough. Be well.

Love, Kent