Yesterday in my DM, I did not intend in the least to trivialize mental pain, or to suggest that it can simply be cured through a diet. I wanted instead to underline how our mental and physical health are inextricably linked. Our spiritual health is yet another dimension that is often undervalued, misunderstood, or separated from the other two.
To talk about spiritual health, I ask the help of Mechtild of Magdeburg (1210-1297) (see my DM of Nov. 12). One of the chapters of her book* is titled: How our home is now in Heaven, now in Purgatory, now in Hell. Being in heaven means being clothed with the virtues and adorned and penetrated by the holy love of God. Being in purgatory happens when we make mistakes (“sins”) and we ought to regain the status that we lost, by means of purgation or cleansing. Being in hell seems to be the final step down, an ultimate state, a condition that admits no cleansing or elevation of any sort. Yet Mechtild explicitly says that God’s compassion follows sinners there, so that they are there today, but perhaps tomorrow in the company of angels.
The latter sentence could well be one of the reasons why Mechtild was accused of heresy. In the male-dominated theology of her time, hell was obviously a definitive state; otherwise, why would one even need purgatory at all? If hell and purgatory are not truly distinguishable, there would simply be a blessed condition and an unblessed one in different degrees from which, however, one can escape.
But what is especially interesting to me is that Mechtild claims that we are already living in those states, here in this life, and we move from one to another. That happens from hour to hour to the blessed who are still here, she writes.
This is a deep psychological insight that has become relatively common only today. There is nothing “wrong” about living between heaven and hell — emotionally speaking — on any given day, because indeed mood swinging happens for most people many times a day, even though it remains often unrecognized. Yet one does not need to live on such rollercoasters without any hope of reaching a more stable condition.
Mechtild also says that in each of the three states, we are in communion with the living souls of the departed. When we are in heaven here on earth, the blessed see us openly and can trace all our progress, that is, our growth in nobility. When we are in purgatory here on earth, the souls who are purging are saddened by seeing that we fell with them, and can do nothing to help us, yet the blessed souls both in the otherworld and in this world help us regain our previous status. When we are in hell here on earth, being in touch with the souls of serious sinners, we may think that we are lost forever, but God’s love instead can make miracles.
The most important sentence of Mechtild in all of the chapter is the following: Thus our home may be in or out of heaven, in purgatory or in unblessed hell, with whichever place we voluntarily associate ourselves.
Is Mechtild saying that if we suffer mentally, to a lesser or a higher degree, it is simply our fault? This would be a superficial reading. I think she is saying that whatever mental state we are in, we should not think it to be final, even when it feels extreme. That we may aspire to live in heaven here on earth — unburdened by “original sin” — and many good people are praying for us to succeed in our effort, communing with us to this aim. Ultimately, being in heaven or hell does not depend on external circumstances, and not even on God, but on our free determination.
I am not attempting here to equate spiritual health with mental health, but am convinced that they are deeply related, just as bodily health and mental health are.
Mechtild’s whole message — it seems to me — is focused on the possibility of living a blessed life not just in the otherworld but here in this very body of ours. And this cannot mean simply being convinced of doing everything right, according to moral laws and God’s will. It must reflect in the state of our mind and its ability to fall under the line of its equilibrium and then regain its place over it, going even further up each time.
*Mechthild of Magdeburg, The Flowing Light of the Godhead, translated by Lucy Menzies (Martino Publishing, Mansfield Center, CT, 2012)
Banner Image: “Bipolar weather.” Photo by /\ltus on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
What do you think of Mechtild’s affirmation about us living in heaven, purgatory, and hell here on this earth?
Related Readings by Matthew Fox
Christian Mystics: 365 Readings & Meditations
Hildegard of Bingen, A Saint for Our Times: Unleashing Her Power in the 21st Century
Julian of Norwich: Wisdom in a Time of Pandemic–and Beyond
Meditations with Julian of Norwich
Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality
5 thoughts on “Living in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven”
I think Mechtild’s affirmation about us living in heaven, purgatory, and hell here on this earth is interesting food for thought. It makes sense that we might move between all three levels both on earth and in the afterlife seeing as our life force is so fluid and changeable. We go between light and darkness in our thoughts, words and deeds to be able to learn from our experiences and develop more compassion for others and for ourselves. It seems to me that a loving God would have a means for redemption for all beings and Mechtild’s affirmation illustrates that in an intriguing way.
Amen
Without words, these DM’s and the community they feed spiritually would not exist. Yet, words like “heaven,” “purgatory” and “hell” are mere creations of the mind meant to facilitate our navigation on an ocean without borders. I agree with Mechtild that we simultaneously inhabit those three “spaces” if only because what some call “hell” is sometimes “heaven” for others. The Tao Te King reminds us from its very first lines that “before Heaven and Earth is the unnameable.” However admirable Dante’s log of his journey from being lost in a dark wood to surrendering his will and desire to “the Love that moves the sun and all other stars,” the traditional map of the Judaeo-Christian geography he relies on is neither the journey nor the land to be traveled. Similarly, as spiritual travelers without borders, we constantly walk along the four Via’s [negativa, positiva, creativa, transformativa]. Moisture is in the air, even when it does not rain.
I like your observation about the Judeo-Christian geography not being the land to be traveled on our spiritual journey. I myself feel like a novice trying to understand and travel the path of the four Vis’s.
Thanks for this, GG, and the colorful and hopeful way Mechtild speaks! It reminds me a bit of Ignatius’ cautions that we can feel consolation or desolation; and what we must try to do is keep being attentive to discerning the will of God and trying to do it, not trusting too much to feelings of either. We can be in joy or in desolation, and we can sometimes wobble between them rather quickly! I really like the quote from Richard Rohr in “The Tears of Things” that the moral mandate is with advocating for and reinforcing the common good,” and by attending to that primary goal, we don’t fall so much into shaming and blaming individual behavior. Our efforts always have a social dimension as well as a personal one. It is good to remember. I really loved Matt’s book “One river, many wells”. As we face the multiplicity of understandings of faith and worship, it is always good to know that if we go deep enough, we are at what is TRUE.