A Man Who Wanted to Go to Hell

I remember once attending a man in a hospital.  When I asked him to make his peace with God he said, “I suppose you're going to tell me I'm going to hell.” “No,” I said, “I'm not.” “Well,” he said, “I want to go to hell.” I replied, “I have never in my life met a man who wanted to go to hell, so I think I will just sit here and watch you go. “Of course, I did not intend to let time pass without doing something, but I was absolutely sure that if he had a few minutes to himself, he might change his point of view.  So I sat alone with him for twenty minutes.  I could see him going through a kind of soul struggle. Then he said to me, “You really believe there is a hell?” I asked him, “Do you feel unhappy on the inside? Are you fearful?  Is there dread, anxiety?  Are all the evil things of your life coming up before you as a specter, a ghost?” Well, it was not long until he made his peace with God.