David Carlson: Doors to heaven and hell are as near as the neighbor in need

Carlson, David Submitted photo

Being surprised on a regular basis is one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed teaching religious studies for more than 40 years. Religions are like bottomless wells —there is always something more to learn.

Take, for example, the various religious beliefs about life after death. Not only do beliefs about the afterlife vary from religion to religion, but beliefs about the afterlife aren’t all about the “after” life. They are about now.

Two descriptions of heaven and hell that I came across recently gave me an “ah-ha” moment. In the first example, hell is described as an existence in which occupants sit before a table loaded with delicious food. The problem is that everyone’s arms are long; actually, they are extremely long. Each person’s arms can reach all the food on the table, but the arms are too long to bring the food to one’s own mouth. Hell is endless frustration.

Surprisingly, heaven is described as having the same set-up—there is a table full of delicious food. Another similarity is that occupants of heaven have the same extremely long arms with the same limitations. But in heaven, occupants realize that while their arms cannot feed themselves, they are the perfect length to feed others at the table. Others are doing the same, and everyone is fed.

The point of the story isn’t really to offer a realistic description of heaven and hell. Instead, the story helps us consider how we’re living now, in a world where the hungry and the homeless are within our reach to help. 

A second description of heaven and hell that offered me an “ah-ha” moment is found in Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. I tried to finish this 700-plus page book several times, but always gave up. Reading Russian literature isn’t something to do in front of the TV. But this spring and summer, I finished the book. And in one of the last chapters, I read a description of the afterlife that was worth all the effort.

Dostoyevsky describes a scene in which a woman, very selfish throughout her life, is in hell. Her guardian angel approaches God and relates that while the woman was selfish in her life, she did one good deed. She gave an onion from her garden to a beggar. In the story, God tells the guardian angel that the angel can lower the onion to lift the woman from hell to heaven.

When the angel reaches down from heaven and holds the onion above the woman, she grabs ahold of it and is slowly raised out of hell toward heaven. Unfortunately, Dostoyevsky’s story doesn’t end on that bright note. As the woman is ascending, others in hell grab onto her coattails and slowly rise with her. When the woman sees this, she begins kicking and screams, “Let go, this is MY onion.” At that moment, she falls back into hell.

The wisdom of these stories comes through even if someone doesn’t believe in heaven and hell. When self-centeredness rules our lives, we experience a lonely and frustrating existence. We get a taste of hell. Conversely, if we focus on the needs of others, we experience a life of connection and relationships. In that, we are given a taste of heaven.

Where are the doors to heaven and hell? As near as the neighbor in need.

David Carlson of Franklin is a professor emeritus of philosophy and religion. Send comments to letters@dailyjournal.net.