Hell

Everyone has their version of hell.  Many consider New York, New York to be a prime address.  With the city that never sleeps, hedonism is alive and well, indulgence is a norm, and greed a well accepted god.  Reality suggests that anything one might say about New York is probably true somewhere in the city. 
 
Having been in New York for a year I think I am in a position to look at the city critically.  Yes, people do indulge themselves in New York.  I also note that everywhere I travel – London, Chennai, Singapore, Ooltewah Tennessee, and even Redlands California – I find people indulging themselves.  Indulgence doesn’t change, just the form.  Yes, hedonism is alive and well in New York.  It is also alive in every community.  The pursuit isn’t unique to a time, place, or culture.  Yes, greed exists in New York.  I don’t find New Yorkers more greedy or less than people in other places.  I do find the average new Yorker is a little more streetwise, on average more savvy, and, at the best, more sophisticated when it comes to the pursuit of money, wealth and power.
 
Maybe it is time we revise and refine our definition of hell.  When I read that “Topheth's fierce fires are well prepared, ready for the Assyrian king.  The Topheth furnace is deep and wide, well stoked with hot-burning wood.  God's breath, like a river of burning pitch, starts the fire.”  (Isaiah 30.33)  I find myself looking at something quite different.
 
Imagine a community where relationships were more important that things, compassion on a higher peg than status, and mercy more important than justice.  Consider a community where personal accountability was treasured and championed by the very people being held to account.  Think about all the “things” this would bring and mean, especially to those within these walls.
 
Imagine a community where nothing in the above paragraph existed.  To me, this is hell.  It is a place I never want to be. 
 
We were created for heaven.  The invitation to come in was and is with us.