Hell Is a World Without You

by Jason Kirk

Too young for penny contracts with the Columbia Record Club, but old enough for eternal pacts with the Omnipotent.

In the hallways, I was supposed to be everyone’s unquenchable source of Christlike joy.

Only the chosen enter Heaven, sure enough. Well, who informed God he can’t choose all his children?”

“What if,” she whispered, smooth knees screaming near my leg, “being created is being chosen?” “What if we’re allowed to say what if?”

How do we stop being guided by fear disguised as mercy?

“Son, the world’s lied to you about what a man is. A man listens for what others need, rather than taking whatever he wants. There, that was the talk.

But why plead for signs when we’re surrounded by wonders?

If Hell is a world without God, and if we are all breaths of the Spirit, then do you know what I know? Then, beloved, Hell is a world without you. You will be born good. The same goes for everyone — yes, even James Dobson. Treat them accordingly.