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Why I Believe in Hell
Hell is a topic I have avoided till now, mainly because of its obvious nature, or so I thought. I recently noticed that several prominent Christians disavowed their faith because of their decision that hell doesn’t exist. I find this curious since the existence of hell appears clear to me. Don’t get me wrong. I find hellfire and damnation preachers tedious. Scaring people into heaven has proven generally ineffective. Jesus mentions hell many times, which is enough for me. But the evidence of hell overwhelms me. I see it so clearly in myself, in others, and in this wonderful and terrible world we live in. I think we are…
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Praying for My Enemy
Until recently, I had never connected my identity as a daughter of God with loving my enemy. I don’t know about anyone else, but this instruction from Jesus to love those who spitefully misuse us is painful on so many levels. After all, an enemy is one who has hurt or is currently harming us intentionally. How do we deal with that, and why would we even want to? I never thought I would end up with so many enemies. When the occasional bully surfaced as a child, I desperately wished they were friends. I saw their mistreatment of me as exposing some flaw in me. The girl who pushed…
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The Mystery of Following Jesus
Sometimes, cliches exist for a reason. My least favorite is never say never, probably because I do say never. I have said to myself that I never want to move to the Bay Area. I still don’t want to live there, but it became abundantly clear that it is God’s will that I live there for a year—maybe more. At first, I mourned, which looked like listening to melancholy break-up songs on repeat. The words of one song in particular always left me teary: If you’re strong enough to let it in, you’re strong enough to let it go. Leaving Alaska brings up a lot of feels. I treasured the…
Healing Through Art & Words
