I have friends across the cosmological spectrum, & I'm thankful when they feel comfortable telling me how they're managing in these rough times.
I have a deeply devout Catholic friend who truly treats everyone in a love-thy-neighbour way, & he told me he's been praying more for souls in purgatory these last few difficult years.
In his faith, that's a pretty logical way to cope with so many folks dying in hard ways without being "saved".
We grieve in different ways.
But, oh, we do all grieve.
@MLClark As a former Catholic who still struggles with faith and similar concepts, I understand your friend completely. I happen to be of the group (including Pope Francis and Origin) who hopes that if Hell exists, it is empty.
🤗 That's a beautiful way of putting it. Thank you, Stephen.
I was quite fond of John Paul II's reframing of hell in 1999, as a "consequence of sin itself, rather than a place" - though it did give the Vatican quite a heart attack!
Francis keeps them on their toes now, too. :)
@MLClark Berryman, of course, got to the poem before I could:
https://genius.com/John-berryman-dream-song-56-annotated