heaven or hell?

i loved this quote the moment i read it.

then i found myself reaching for a red pen.

i crossed out one word and wrote another above it... not because i disagree with Madeleine...

quite the opposite.

i think her insight reaches even farther than the original wording. 'whenever we are lost in hate, we are in hell, no matter how enlightened we think we are.'

hate is not a problem unique to one religion, political party, philosophy, or worldview.

it belongs to all of us.

every one of us is capable of feeding it or starving it. the hell we experience often begins with what we choose to focus on, what we consume, what we repeat, what we nurture, and what we release into the world.

our inner landscape becomes the world we help create.

that has very little to do with following the right rules or belonging to the right religion...

it has everything to do with learning what Love looks like for you, and living into it.

not sentimental love. not performative kindness. but the kind of Love that is...

courageous enough to tell the truth...

compassionate enough to listen...

and wise enough to choose connection over contempt.

every moment offers us a choice.

we can feed hate, and build hell...

or we can practice Love, and begin building heaven right here, right now.