Sunburn, Sunsets, And The Difference Between Heaven and Hell

His feet were cold.
When you drag someone out of bed to martyr them, at least give them the justice of wearing their slippers. The Roman soldiers were not so kind.
He sang as they escorted him.
Psalm 113, something he had sung for years on Good Friday.
It bothered the hell out of the Romans.
This was good, he sang louder.

He was aware and had already fully accept what was about to happen. He had never met Jesus, those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength, he'd waited, he was ready.
And he was about to meet Jesus.
The Roman soldiers agreed.
He was still singing when the flames lit.
His feet weren't cold anymore.

It didn't really hurt so much. More like.... sunburn.
When he was a child he had gone to the beach, he remembered the sound of the waves, the glorious, majestic sunsets.
And the sunburn.
It was always worth it.
That sunburn, that pain reminded him of freedom.
He smiled.
The Romans were having a bad day.

He was there for nearly 6 hours.
He sang alot, enjoyed the sunburn.
Freedom.
Haha! Glorious freedom!

He was getting bored.
He looked around at the impatient Romans and smiled again.

"Turn me over I'm done on this side"

They looked around at each other, the commanding officer shrugged, and they obliged the request.

His face was down now, his vision clouded by smoke.
He saw the beach again, the sunset, God's majesty screaming across the heavens.
Somewhere his memory and reality got mixed together.
He was a little child running on the beach, the sudden smoke made him cough and stumble, he fell to the ground, unable to breath.

He looked at the sunset, felt the sunburn, inhaled a deep breath, in the back of his mind he knew it was his last. He had no regrets of his life. His vision clouded again, he couldn't breath.
Couldn't Sing.
But he didn't need to sing anymore, the Angels sang for him
He looked at the sunset, and with his last earthly thought he realized... the sun was the other way.
Glorious.
Freedom.

"Hey Jesus."



-The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence in Rome in 258 A.D, at the age of 33.

Hell is not just a place where you go when you die, it is anywhere that God is not.
But God is everywhere. But what about when people shove him out.
The internment camps in WWII.
War. (With the exception of when your army is led by God)
Just 2 examples for you...
Some people would say St. Lawrence went through Hell to get to Heaven.
No, God was always with him, with the absence of God it would have been Hell for him.
But instead, all he got was a sunburn, and a new appreciation for slippers and sunsets.

In the darkest time of your life, when you go through Hell.
Look around you
God is there.

What I have found...

Is sometimes the difference between Heaven and Hell,

is just a little sunburn.

Peace... be with you
John 20:15
-Jason