Hell

I can hear her now (she is my mother) "Now you've done it!  You're going to Hell in a handbasket!"  When I've done something stupid or should I say sinful? I think of her, reminding me that I'm on my way straight to Hell unless I do something quickly to reverse my actions.  Its been several months now since she died, leaving me with all the quips and words of advice that I so much dreaded as a child but came to find endearing as an adult, except for when it came to the subject of Heaven or Hell.  Mother believed she had a special talent in knowing who was facing eternal damnation and who was saved.  We called it the "Daily Proclamation".  As she grew older, she mellowed and it seemed to me that fewer people were facing the gates of Hell.

Regardless, Hell was a subject to be pondered in my lifetime, since I heard so much about it. I began to think at one time of all the chores I would have to tend to if I were stuck in Hell for eternity and the worst ones were doing the dishes. scrubbing floors and folding clothes.  I know now that Hell is simply about being removed from Heaven for eternity, being thrown out, not having the reservation, the ticket, the pass.  I want the reservation.

When my life changed, and it did; when I reached out for help to find the purpose of this life of mine, I talked to several of my truly Christian friends, one being Priscilla Harper.  God must have let her know I was calling, because she was there and prepared for me and all of my questions.  "Do you have a reservation?" she asked.
I travel a lot, "to where?"  "To Heaven."  Its a different way of asking someone "Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth and in Jesus Christ his Son, our Lord".
I never thought about it like that.  "I'll let you know when I get one", was all I could honestly say.  This conversation began my conversion.  "Yes!" I can say now, "I have a reservation!" and I am
not going or ever going to Hell especially in a handbasket.

Lord God.  Thank you for friends who love me and who have helped me to become a better me, for a mother who kept Heaven and Hell in the forefront of daily life, whether or better or for worse.  Lord, you have given me free will to choose between you or the lack of you in my life.  I choose you, freely and with all that it takes to be one of your followers.  Help me each and every second to be what you want me to be.