Last week, around this time I went with a friend from cell group to Damansara Uptown's Midnight Pasar Malam after pampering ourselves at a nearby Baskin Robins (yum!). We went stall hopping to check out what was being sold and boy was it an eye-opener! From burgers to t-shirts, you name it they might have it (there was even some that were selling allegedly captured footage of ghosts!). I seldom go shopping without an objective in mind, so I had planned earlier to look out for "leather" sling bags.
After a bit of stall hopping, we located one that sells bags only. I was thrilled at the thought of getting a "leather" sling bag that is similar to a friend's (which he bought from Petaling Street); without having to travel the distance (PJ to KL) and saving time + money. The bag was dark brown (almost black) and it is like those "messenger" bag's a classic postman would use. So there I was checking the bag for flaws but none visible (I probably was too infatuated to see it) while the stall owner pitched me:
StallOwner: We have only two of these left. One in black (editor: the one I was holding) and the other in brown. I tell you honestly: it's real leather on the outside and PVC in the inside.
Me: Really ah..? (I was actually quite convinced). How much?
StallOwner: RM48
Me: RM35, I'll buy.
StallOwner: RM38 lah. Best price.
Me: Deal.
I was very happy with my purchase until 5 days later, the strap started to show signs of tearing! I was going, "Oh no..." when I saw that happened. My heart was really aching at the thought of the money I had spent.
Funnily (not "haha" funny but "weird" funny) enough, this bad experience had led me to contemplate on the topic of Hell.
The stereotype vision of Hell is a place that's filled with brimstone & fire and not to mention naked people who are eternally tortured by demons. But after much reading and contemplation, I have a developed a different vision of Hell...
We are all creatures made for love. We seek love; but more often than not we mistake carnal pleasure (e.g. sex/pornography/money/fame) for love. We may feel contented with these "pseudo-love" (as I would like to put it) and we settle for it. But it satisfies only for a short period and then emptiness comes. When emptiness comes, we seek more of these pseudo-love to fill it. The "dosage" of pseudo-love increases as time passes, until a point where we become so numb that we have to seek for "more extreme" versions of pseudo-love to "cure" the numbness.
Some returned to God after realizing (with the grace of God) how meaningless all these carnal pursuits are, but many stay on with these lifestyles until the end of their lives. When one dies without repentance, essentially he/she have made a choice during his/her lifetime to be separated from God and that decision made will be honoured by God in eternity.
We know that God is love, and that makes Him the source of love. So as creatures made for love we suffer tremendously when we are separated from God and basically that is Hell. I don't discount the possibility of physical suffering but I believe that emotional suffering will be inevitable when one realizes that he/she has missed the opportunity during his/her lifetime to be with his/her Creator, the One that we were made for. It is like missing your one and only opportunity to wine & dine for free with your favourite celebrity and you missed it because you procrastinated to register for the event.
I also likened that emotional suffering of Hell to what I felt when I realized that my decision to buy that bag was a rip-off (after the strap started to tear). I thought to myself: "I should have gotten myself a bag that's made of genuine leather, even if it costs me a couple of hundred extra. At least it will last!" "I shouldn't have believed that stall owner!" Multiply that emotional suffering by a trillion and you get a rough idea of what emotional suffering in Hell might be like.
Fortunately, I was still able to modify my sling bag to a handle-less document bag, so at least the main compartment is salvaged. But unfortunately in the case of Hell, when one chooses it any effort of rectification will be futile.
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