Hell is a paradox. Kallistos Ware mentions, “Hell is a point not in space but in the soul. It is the place where God is not. (And yet God is everywhere!)”
Why do I mention this? I agree that hell is in the soul. I also believe that hell is our perceived absence from God. I am in hell when I believe God is absent. I am in hell when I forget that God is ever present. I am in hell when I forget that God loves me. When I reject God’s love, I place myself in hell. When I fear, I place myself in hell.
I place myself in hell when I let my anger linger. I place myself in hell when I let my hurt feelings continue. I place myself in hell when I refuse to forgive people. I place myself in hell when I am jealous as a result of someone else’s success and my perceived lack of success. I place myself in hell when things don’t go the way I want them to go.
Luckily, I can pull myself out of hell. I can realize how foolish I am acting. I can apologize to God. I can apologize to the other person. I can remind myself that God is ever present. I can remind myself that God loves me. Sometimes it naturally happens during the silence of my centering prayer practice. Other times, I spend a week in suffering when I needlessly did not have to do so. It all seems so foolish when I look back.
It is a paradox. Hell is not the absence of God. God is in hell with us. It is us who forget this.
What do you think?