When we were children, most of us learned in Sunday School that we go to Heaven when we die. No one spoke too much about Hell, because they expected us to be good and to do good to earn our way into Heaven.
So, the belief was that if we were good on earth, we’d get to Heaven one day i.e. when we die.
Hell, as far as we knew it, was reserved for the really, really bad people. If we ever thought of "Hell", we thought those people certainly had earned their place there.
We learned this. Then...came...LIFE!
On most days, you could do a sampling of 100 people and ask them if they thought they were in heaven or hell right now, based on their current life experiences. With the state of the economy being what it is, don’t be too surprised if you get most people, i.e. at least 60 percent, stating that they are in some form of hell.
To become aware of this is to become aware of the fact that Heaven or Hell is not a place we go when we die. Rather, heaven and hell are states of mind, reflective of our affairs and our peace, or lack of peace, at any given time.
For some people, “hell” is when the man or woman they love does not love them in return. For others, it is much more severe: getting through the day without pain or with enough food to eat.
What is the key differentiator of a person who states that he or she is in heaven versus one who states in hell?
How do we get to heaven from hell?
More importantly, how do we earn a place in heaven or hell?
It’s all about choices, i.e. the choices that we make moment by moment, day by day.
Years ago when I gave up my secure life circumstances, I thought I’d entered into the Gates of Hell when the freedom that I thought I would have quickly led to a path of uncertainty and the way of the unknown.
Initially things did not start out that way. In the beginning, I felt I was entering “heaven,” because of the freedom just to “BE,” i.e. living without any proscribed behaviors or following any corporate rules. Then my sense of security began to change, and I soon questioned the heavy price I was paying for “freedom.” Often it is this very “questioning” that leads us into the Gates of Hell.
For many others, entering the Gates of Hell may sometimes come from a lover leaving their side or an illness that creeps up without any warning. These folks are thrown for a loop.
One day it seems that all of their life is flowing smoothly, the next day, they are thrown into the wiles of the world and seemingly into the Gates of Hell. Darkness, uncertainty...doubt and fear...are their day to day, moment by moment experience.
Recently I visited with a close friend who has been battling cancer for years. She overcame all the trials of breast cancer, having had a double mastectomy. Then the cancer metastasized to her lung. Being a strong Unity Student and Science of Mind Practitioner, my friend remained calm and positive throughout this experience and entered into a long period of remission.
I felt prompted to go visit her this past weekend. Now, I’m so grateful that I followed guidance.
My friend is now battling a third round of cancer. This time, it has gotten to her brain.
No one had informed me of her condition prior to my visit, but as soon as I saw her, I knew my friend was very ill. I discovered that she has been having rounds of chemotherapy, has lost most of her appetite and now has to be under 24-hour supervision because of frequent falls. Despite all this, when my friend and I were alone, i.e. away from all the caregivers, I caught her Spirit!
It is fully alive and as strong as anything, despite this last bout of cancer.
Sitting alone with her, my sadness soon dissipated, as I felt my friend’s Strength of Spirit, overriding her current life experience!
I could not be sad when she was expressing absolutely no victim emotions! She was not bed-ridden, as a matter of fact, she insists on helping herself around the kitchen and in attending to her personal needs. She is experiencing absolutely NO PAIN! She has absolutely NO AGONY! This is the way my friend has been throughout the many years of fighting her condition: no pain, though she's on little medication...and especially, NO COMPLAINING!
I never once heard my friend question why these trials had come upon her. Never once! I never heard her agonize or panic about her condition...or express any concern about her future. With this recent visit, my friend was the same person in Spirit I’d always known for all the 18 years I’ve known her. Nothing has changed.
Over the time I’ve known her, my friend has modeled for me what it means to walk the world as a black woman of substance. A few decades separate us in age, but this matters little to our friendship. My friend always has reflected for me the grace, style, dignity, compassion, success and generosity I hope to one day achieve. Now, during this critical and pivotal time of her illness, she is reflecting no less!
As a matter of fact, after we got over talking about her physical challenges, we began to talk about the plans for her daughter’s wedding coming up in two weeks!
I felt blessed being in my friend’s presence, and the next day I left her home in San Francisco much stronger and better in MY SPIRIT than I’d been in recent times.
I was renewed in my spirit...because I was touched...by a truly beautiful spirit!
What do we do when the Gates of Hell open up to welcome us? How do we “negotiate” our way out, once we’ve entered? Can we “earn” a place back in Heaven?
Well, it depends on your view...your willingness to let go...and trust the circumstances of your life...to the unknown.
Quite frankly, it takes GUTS!
Prayer and affirmations work...for a time. But mostly, it takes a reaching into your soul...to find the strength within. When you’ve done enough of that and you still find yourself waking up in Hell, then you must just keep walking...through the darkness...until you hit the light. For light must be there!
Light must be there...because God is there!
God is in the midst of the darkness. God is there in the "hellish" circumstances...walking the distance with you. My friend did not have to tell me this: I knew this from the quietness and peace I felt emanating from her soul!
She’d always affirmed when things went awry: ”Everything in my life is in Divine Order RIGHT NOW!”
Everything truly is in Divine Order, though we may not see it.
I learned from my friend, especially during this last visit, that Hell is the mindset you adopt during times of trials. You really can reach "Heaven"...even in the midst of circumstances that others would see and experience as "Hell."
The consciousness in which you choose to “make your bed” truly is up to you.
Which gate do you choose to enter: Heaven’s or Hell’s?
Namaste’,
Che’
1 comment:
Extremely well written and enlightening. Once again you have clarified things I knew to be true. You are such an inspiration in my life. I am in awe of your friend and have known someone like her as well, knowing that if she dared cave in to victim thoughts it would be a fast downward spiral until she crashed. I've had my hellish experiences but they all began with choice.
Post a Comment