The final judgement...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v689x5BwuMI

As a little girl I started visiting a religion-related place in Poland called “Licheń”. My excessively pious grandparents would take me and my brother there each year. There’s a place called “Golgota” which is a representation of Jesus’ last walk with the cross. It’s a kind of a mountain all built of stones that also contains several religious scenes. One of them is “The final judgement” presented in the picture below.

It shows severe God with a sinister expression on His face. He seems to be disappointed pointing at the man angrily. And there, in front of Him, there’s a man on his knees. A deeply anxious man who surely regrets all his sins now. In his hands he has very few good actions while the heavy baggage represents his sins - drunkenness, theft, fraud, debauchery, impurity, disrespect, greed and others… The man doesn’t even have any courage to take a look at God. He knows he doesn’t deserve it. And we all know what’s going to happen next. The whole Bible and Christianity tells us what happens next. We all know. There’s no other way…

How persuasive and telltale the imagery is! How much it tells to a little girl and how significantly such imagery, commonly encountered in the Catholic church, will influence her perception of Father God in her future life... Supported by the painful image of her own earthly father, she’s going to believe that the Heavenly One is nothing more than a distant and uncaring, if not even ruthless and harsh ruler... God of fear and no mercy, sending His own children to Hell if they weren’t good enough. Or if they didn’t have enough faith. There's a significant disagreement in the Christian world what the truth is. Perhaps each of them may turn out to be wrong anyway.

According to the imagery life is like a cruel game. Omnipotent God, maybe out of boredom, sending his weak children to the Earth for a trial. If you don’t pass the test, and surely most of us won’t – you’re going to be forgotten, living in Hell where you will face eternal torment… how deeply cruel must God be to let His own children suffer for eternity? How ruthless and unloving must He be to let for it all? And what about the “holy” ones who were good enough to live in Heaven? Are they going to be truly happy in their heaven knowing that billions of souls are going to suffer unimaginable eternal torment somewhere down there? Maybe even their beloved ones - husbands, wives, children, friends… Imagine it. Are you going to be happy in your heaven then? Does it all really work the way? As it is the belief the Bible and the whole Christianity is deeply soaked in. This is the imagery most of us carry within our minds, maybe even unconsciously… However, could it be a false image? Could it be a misconception? Who am I to tell so...?

Just a single soul that has experienced the meaning of parental love. The love you have for your own child. What enormous love it is! Surely the one I have never experienced before even though I thought I hadn’t been able to love more. The love that would make me jump into fire to rescue my own child. The one that would make me die for my beloved son if needed. Without hesitation. The love that made God die for us on the cross. For each one of us. You and me and everyone you will ever meet in your life. The greatest Love in the whole universe, unimaginable and incomprehensible for us here. How could then be God so ruthless, how could be the conception of Hell real? When God sent his beloved Son to die for us. For each of us. Could He love us any more then? But what if we aren’t good enough? What if my faith is very little yet? What if it never grows any bigger? Would God be so ruthless to send any of His children for eternal suffering not experiencing the heartbreaking pain of losing His beloved child? Only when I became mum myself, I did understand what love it is you have for your own child. Unconditional and forever lasting! And if we are able to love this much, how much greater must the love of God be? So… How many of false images do we carry within ourselves? How many of misconceptions do we still bear in mind believing this is the only right existing truth? Misleading inner depictions that we have been believing maybe even for our whole lives. Based on the impact of the society and their misconceptions that have been passed down for centuries. Based on the surrounding reality or our painful experiences, some outer and inner lies. Depiction of Father God presented as a cruel ruler. An image of our Heavenly Father sending His children for eternal torment in Hell… Could there be a greater lie? Wouldn’t He rather let us try one more time to improve our lives on the earthly plan? And maybe sometimes one more and one more if needed… Maybe He would rather let us try a million times then send His single child to Hell?

The influence of this image on our entire lives is profound. Millions of people saw the imagery and billions have been taught it the way. I believe in it too. Supported by the image of my earthy father. As often we perceive Father God the way as we see and feel about our earthy one. If it's a negative image, perhaps the same you may have about the Heavenly Father. But only when I become a parent myself, I realised what real parental love is! What is really means to love your child unconditionally. I really didn’t understand it before. No matter what, I will always do everything to rescue my own child! And the great love I have towards my son really doesn’t let me believe in anything else than the great and unconditional love of our heavenly Father God. Could it be any different though...?