The dynamics of the kingdom are nothing like those of the world around us. Many who pride themselves as believers have been seduced by the unholy trinity: the world, the flesh and the devil. The world is greedy for wealth and power. Flesh desires pleasure and reduces “persons” to commodities. Satan is all about bondage and broken promises. There can be no doubt that this is what the damned substitute in hell for the true Trinity that raises up the poor and the weak, that seeks a lasting joy for all who are saved, that trusts in the promises of Christ and finds freedom in his everlasting covenant.
While lacking a practical guidebook to the afterlife, we can surmise a few aspects. Heaven is not an abode of bored angels playing harps on clouds. It is not a place where selfish dreams come true. While we are left with questions, we are told that the saints see God and that this beatific vision is an occasion for completion and peace in themselves while the focus will always be giving glory to the one triune God. There is a profound unity in the Lord. The divine mystery cannot be exhausted by finite creatures. But we will be one in Christ. We will be happy. There will be no more sorrow, sickness, pain or dying. All tears will be wiped away. We may not understand what it means, but there will be a new heaven and a new earth. Everything good that the world takes away will be given back to us in Christ. We will be in our true home.
We have been warned about hell, but it is unlikely that it will be exactly like the poets Dante and Milton described. What can we say about it? Many sources agree upon the component of fire, but while it is mesmerizing and torturous, it is more blinding than a light for true illumination. If heaven is where we find the light inside, then as Jesus described, hell is the “outer darkness.” The worst element of perdition is a forever alienation from the God that made us for himself. We will be always incomplete, frustrated in terms of our “final end.” It is a place of punishment for wrong, and along with this, of both pain or suffering to the senses and in the human spirit. The last element is the decisiveness of hell as there can be no escape. It is forever. Will the demons delight in abusing the damned? Despite the distraction of fire, will there be rational discourse in hell? Or will each soul be placed in a perpetual solitary confinement? It is certain that there is no communion of saints in hell. But what might be the parameters for associations or a community of the damned? Are all their relationships, by definition, parasitical? Just as not all saints are identical, cannot the same be argued for the damned? Even in this world we make distinctions about criminals. Would serial killers be lumped with those who occasionally missed Mass? While more theory than fact, it seemed to me that the limbo of the innocents was really more a suburb of hell than an abode on the fringes of heaven. It would appear likely that divine justice would treat differently those who did not know God from those who failed to love him as they should, through hatred or indifference. What quality of charity for a neighbor might spare one from the harshest elements of perdition? The mystery here is the question of salvation itself. Hell is real and terrible, but we do not know for sure who is there now and who will join them for eternity. Should we even speak of hell as a single place or as many places outside the boundaries of Christ’s kingdom?
I have wondered about the connection, if any, between dreaming and the afterlife. Dreams often reflect our concerns and anxieties about what awaits us after death. Given how I can remember very little while awake, I am amazed at the details and the worlds created in my head when sleeping. Places are fashioned that I have no conscious recognition of ever visiting. Books on shelves have real titles and there is text inside to read. This strikes me as bordering the paranormal. What is to be made of this? Often, I am oblivious to the dream, just accepting as reality the setting around me. While heaven and hell are real places, might the soul that is translated to the next world still have this capacity to create worlds within itself? If not heaven, might such an ability provide a small delusional refuge for the damned soul facing the utter terror of hell. I cannot say for sure, but I would not be surprised. Further, might there be a connection or parallel between the phantasms of the mind and the place that is prepared for us— between the virtual and the real?
The prospect of heaven or hell looms before every man and woman. Death signifies the most significant of personal transformations. It signals an awakening or a change of perspective about what matters. Too many squander their time and opportunities. Non-believers would argue that dreams have no connection with literal experiences. Dreaming allows the brain to process the questions, concerns and fears of the day. Believers would point to the two Joseph’s, one the interpreter of dreams and steward for Pharoah, and the other the foster father of Christ given messages from an angel. Dreams can be portals to the spiritual and reflect real communication with the kingdom. They can alert us to the apocalyptic and to what awaits us.
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