Heaven, Hell and Purgatory

He chases me

Throughout the day and night

Breathing lies

Until I think he’s right.

Why must we endure this test

Can’t it just be laid to rest

And finally

Set us free.

Where are you?

When I need you most?

My mighty warrior

When will you save me

From this wicked worm

That tortures my soul

Bring it under control

~ My Mighty Warrior by Juliet A. Wright

copyright 2008, all rights reserved

In the entry below, I share my thoughts on heaven, hell, and purgatory in relation to some oil paintings I had done of those places. I also describe my hell on earth as me dealing with my defects of character.

I had a really interesting conversation with my friend Sue yesterday about heaven, hell, and purgatory. This talk had been activated by three oil paintings of the same names that I had created over the past weeks. One looks like what I think heaven would be like — greens and blues, beautiful, serene, calming, and placid. Purgatory has some reds in it, but also includes a state of brownish, yellow confusion that has not quite given into the red burning state. Hell has a greenish yellow sky with red on the bottom.

Sue asked me to explain myself. Did I really think there was a hell where I’d go if I’m bad and then burn for all eternity? And what is purgatory? If I’m in heaven, am I flying around with a harp and wings? She then went on to suggest that we create our own heaven, hell, and purgatory on this planet. 

So what does Juliet think? I think that heaven is a place where I’d go to be with God. I’ll be with Christ. It will be a comfortable place. I think hell is a place where I would be separated from God for eternity. That would be lame. I wouldn’t like that. I’m not sure about purgatory in terms of it being another place, unless I am such a confusing messed-up case when I get there that they’d say, “Hold up, we need to get our confused-mess intervention team to figure her out. Throw her in purgatory until the committee can convene.”

I do agree with Sue that I have the ability to create my own heaven, purgatory, and hell right on this planet. Heaven is lying in my bed at night listening to the train go by. Heaven is also sitting under the stars at Tanglewood listening to music that only God could have created. Heaven is sundried tomato, feta, and cheese pizza, followed by a really good glass of Cabernet, topped off with a chocolate dessert. Heaven is my music, my writing, my art, and my cabin, my Quaker Meeting. It is the sweet, smiling face of one of my students who comes up to give me a hug and is glad to see me. It is a sweet student who tries their best to play in front of all of their peers. That is heaven.

Purgatory was waiting to hear about how my brother-in-law was doing after one of his many surgeries, when they were trying to save his life. It was waiting for that stupid, evil tumor of his to go away. (It didn’t and he died in 2014.)

Purgatory is spending hours fretting over a violin that someone thinks I lost and I’ve looked in every classroom, closet, car, truck, boat, plane, trashcan, rock, and spaceship to find it. And it is nowhere. Purgatory is me being lost in my defect of indecision, not knowing where to turn next.

My hell on earth is being swallowed up by my defects of character. My inner critic is always trying to devour me, fueling my low self-esteem, which is torture. Hell is me lying awake obsessing over a disagreement I had with a friend, or a family member, convinced that they will never speak to me again; now they know how truly awful I am, the secret is out and I’ll be alone forever. Then fear of abandonment and fear of rejection join in on the bullying session. Then I obsess about how I can fix it. I obsess because I am codependent, you see, and that was part of my job in my family of origin. I was supposed to be perfect and fix things. If I just obsess long enough, I’ll figure it out. I’ll make them love me, I’ll figure out how to beat the cancer, the lost violin will fall right through the roof of my cabin. If I beat myself up enough, maybe I can turn back the clock and erase that stupid thing I said to my student and not be defensive around them. Hell is feeling helpless over the illness of a loved one or family member. Yes, my defects do create hell on earth.

As I’ve noted earlier, I find that my salvation lies in my creativity. Creating music and art helps me survive.  I always feel better after playing my violin or my guitar. And writing songs is my lifesaver — lots of songs. Listening to Mozart and Benjamin Britten also helps me climb out of the hellish pit of depression and helplessness. That and, of course, surrendering to God. Surrendering in prayer is essential.

I don’t think I’m headed for a roasting pan. Instead, I have to try to avoid putting myself in it right here on Earth. At the same time, that beautiful, serene, calming, wonderful place called heaven is real to me and I look forward to meeting Christ, shaking Peter’s hand, and taking Paul’s class on Romans. And I’m sure they’ll have plenty of art and music studios there in which I can create whenever I want.  Tanglewood will be there too, of course, heaven style, with plenty of great lawn space, stars, and beautiful music. Sounds heavenly to me. Sign me up!