I was just thinking about ...
Nothing At All!
“Oh,
it’s that day, isn’t it? What’s the matter, nothing in your head?” I
didn’t even turn around to answer my wife, “Yes it is and no there’s
not.” Now ordinarily I would have had a snappy comeback for that remark about
‘nothing in your head’. But today is no ordinary day. There’s no snappy
comeback to Kim’s suggesting my head has an echo because… there was nothing
inside: nada, zilch, absolute zero! I have writer’s block. Actually, it’s
been more like three days of writer’s block. I’m even willing to bet a
vacancy light was flashing above my head for everyone to see.
But
then the lights came on. (Inside my head, not Kim at the light switch.)
“Thanks Hon; you gave me an idea!” “What is it, what are writing about?”
“Nothing, Hon, nothing at all!” She just gave me one of those looks and
walked off. You know, one of those looks like dogs give you all the time when
they are trying to figure out what this silly human being is doing. Cock the
head a little sideways and wrinkle the eyebrows a bit. But where a dog will
stick around trying to figure you out, my dear wife’s been around long enough
to know it may take longer to figure out than is worth her time. She just waits
for the end product and hope there’s no danger in it. But we need to get back
to the main idea as she heads off to the kitchen.
Nothing,
nothing at all; wouldn’t that be a horrible way of life? And what about
eternal life? Could you imagine having to spend eternity floating around in
utter nothingness? Searching, crying out for something to break the tedium. Your
ears strain for the slightest sound. Your eyes frantically scan all around in
desperate hope of breaking through the inky blackness of your existence. Your
hands reach out in all directions, hoping for the slightest stimulus to refresh
them. But to no avail, for there is neither cold nor hot, rough or smooth,
pointed or flat. Now try to imagine being in this state after seeing the glory
of God and the beauty of Heaven. But the last words heard by you still echo in
your ears, “Depart from me, for I don’t know you.”
For some reason, when I think of hell, I don’t think of a burning pit
of sulfur and smoke. I think of total indifference, existing in total
nothingness. There is no reason for being, no use in being alive and yet death
will not come. We’ve all known people who struggled with these feelings in
this life. Perhaps even someone reading this devotion has gone through a period
like that. Now can you appreciate the horror of facing eternity in that state?
Good, because that leads to the good news.
God is not indifferent. God is a loving and caring creator who deeply
cares for each one of us. I personally hope that the scriptures have been
interpreted wrong and no one has to face Hell, whatever the definition. However,
if that were the plan, I would rather see them destroyed in the fires rather
than to be rejected and face an eternity of nothingness. They would be like
yesterday’s trash, thrown out without a second thought, to face an eternity
without meaning. And I can’t see God in the vein. If non-believers do face a
pit of fire, I believe it’s the last act of a loving and caring God that would
rather put them out of their misery quickly rather than have them float around.
Well, I guess you’re
getting depressed about now. So let me leave you with this thought. If God cares
that much about those who reject him, think of what’s in store for those who
accept and love God. But I think I’ll leave that thought for another day. In
the meantime,
Drop
on by anytime, I'll be here and so will God,
Dennis