Sean Dietrich (Sean of the South) is one of my favorite writers. Today, he shared a fan letter that asked why he talked about Heaven all the time but never about hell, so he shared a story of the DMV and an anecdote from his grandfather. It made me want to share my view and an anecdote as well. Maybe it’s because the DMV in Florida, in my experiences over the years and in many parts of the state, isn’t really a horrible place.

Hell is horrible. I don’t know if I would call it a place. The intricacies of time, space, and matter are tough enough to comprehend from an earthly perspective, but to attempt to understand it from an eternal perspective is impossible for me. I don’t know if it is a fiery pit, or if a fiery pit is the closest description that the human mind can grasp. I don’t think you can describe hell without first understanding Heaven.

In the Old Testament, people couldn’t be in the full presence of God without dying. Even when God came down to be with Moses, His full presence was hidden. God does not allow sin in His presence because His very nature will not allow it. Sin cannot exist in His glorious light. It burns away. We cannot carry a speck of it with us to Heaven. This is why we need the Savior, someone to take away our sin, someone whose act paid for our sins. Because of Jesus, we can spend eternity in the unveiled presence of Almighty God.

My Taller Half (MTH) and I talk about Heaven frequently. The prospect is getting closer every day. One way we talk about Heaven goes something like this.  When I get to Heaven, I want God to explain why X. The other will say, But when we get to Heaven, I doubt we will remember or care about X.  Or, I really want to see this truly evil person stand before God and get what is coming to him. The other will reply, But we are sinful people, too, and if not for Jesus, we would get what was coming to us. When we stand before God, we will be faced with the reality of our own sin and the price paid for them by Christ. After our sorrow, our minds and hearts will be filled to bursting with love, gratitude, and joy for His grace and mercy.

Hell is the opposite of Heaven. We cannot carry a speck of God there. It is a place where souls will be separated forever from the eternal light. Everything good will be gone. No rest. No food. No enjoyment of earthly pleasures. No kindness. No love. No amusements. No comfort of any kind. Only things that are not of God can be there. Just darkness. Emptiness. Loneliness. Anger. Bitterness. Hate. I was going to say regret, but I don’t believe there will be regret. For regret, you need to have at least an inkling of some better, brighter situation, better choices you could have made — some idea of good. Even the memory of good will be gone, because all good comes from God, and hell is complete separation from God. If hell is a literal fiery pit, the fire will shed no light nor bring any warmth — only endless burning.

Now for the anecdote. There once was a man. He was a good man in many ways — heroic, self-sacrificing, hard-working, generous, and compassionate. He had a very hard start in life by our standards, and one way he coped was to drink. When he drank, he lost the ability to control his violent emotions, and he said and did things to the people he loved that left terrible scars.

When he was in his mid-50s, the man had a serious heart attack. He nearly died, did die for a time, meaning his heart stopped while he was being treated. Once his situation was stable, his doctor told the family that if he didn’t change his ways, he would be dead within the year. His family, knowing his nature, began to consider his funeral.

But to their surprise, he did change. This is not to say he was suddenly perfect. He did not go to church before the heart attack, and he did not go after, but he stopped drinking. He stopped smoking, though he had smoked for over 40 years and failed attempts to quit many times. He stopped his brutal ways. He suddenly began to pay attention to religious television and radio, and he read his Good News for Modern Man. In his last days, decades later, a pastor visited him regularly and spoke with him about Christ, and he understood and believed.

But why the change? The man shared with his wife why things were different. During the heart attack, he had a near death experience. But the experience wasn’t of bright light and loving family members greeting him at the Pearly Gates. It was hell, and it scared the hell out of him. I don’t know if he shared any of the details with her, but he believed he was in hell or had a vision of hell, that he was hell bound, and he didn’t want to go there. On the surface, the changes were simply out of fear of death and what comes after. I believe it was grace. God offered the man favor he did not earn and answered the prayers of his wife and children in a Dickensian way.

I don’t spend a lot of time thinking of hell. I have no fear of going there, because I have God’s promise of salvation through his Son. I’d rather share the light and love of heaven than the fear of hell, though maybe some people need a vision of what hell might be. C. S. Lewis wrote a novel called, The Great Divorce. It is not about marriage or the ending of one. The title is a response to William Blake’s Marriage of Heaven and Hell. Lewis’s story is not scripture nor meant to be an authoritative commentary on heaven or hell, but there are truths to be found in his tale. It is short, it is thought provoking, and it is one of my favorite books. I highly recommend it.

Take it with you on your next trip to the DMV.