YouTube: Fate of the Wicked
The question was raised about the fate of people who cause great pain and suffering for others while on this earth. The name of Adolf Hitler comes to mind, though there are countless examples of such people on a greater and lesser scale. Shouldn’t there be some kind of divine punishment for those who obviously do so much harm to others?
I think most of us would agree that in a just universe there should be divine retribution for those who intentionally inflict pain and suffering on others. And yet, with the exception of relatively few cases, the majority who momentarily die and return report that there is no punishment of any kind, even when they have lived a less-than-moral life. They say that a life review, which can be severely painful, is the extent of their punishment. Yet they feel no judgment from the Being of Light or other entity that may have brought them to the review.
I recall a case where a person was murdered by a gang but recovered later to tell of their incredible near-death experience. This person said they thanked their attackers for giving them this opportunity. While such an attitude is nearly impossible for most of us to fathom, it is a common response in such cases. The experience they have is so far beyond our average human perceptions that we struggle to reconcile their reports.
Such stories remind me of Paul’s statement: “For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood” (1 Cor. 12). I think it is true that our soul’s natural condition is so far beyond our normal human thinking, that only a direct experience can show us the vastness of this reality we inhabit. With a body, we purchase real estate, build fences, and make clear legal distinctions between what is mine and thine. Outside the body, none of this is needed. The thinking we use to gain leverage in this world are not necessary to the soul who experiences its own completeness to the degree that it needs no leverage, that it has no need to take from another that which it already possesses.
This question is one that we all must take into our own heart. I too see the world through a glass darkly, but I strive to come face to face with the true nature of reality. I cannot help but think that it looks much different face to face than it does through the darkened glass through which I so often see.