On RuneScape. Yes: that is quite possible. He did a lot of crying, and lost all of his stuff – except a shield and a small satchel of ash, or something. It was quite an ordeal; he needed a lot of sympathy. I held his shoulders while he sat there whimpering and fighting in vain against zombies, in slow motion. Poor thing. I made him some hot chocolate. Then he called a friend, and managed to log in on someone else’s account. He was advised not to go out into the wilderness – because they are out to get you if you go there. Shame. And he’s only eight years old.

Going to hell happens to us all, if you think about it. In cyber space I think it is quite mild in fact, compared to real life. Man, some of us are out there, on the river! Huckleberry was also prepared to accept these terms as he swam to the shore, leaving faithful Jim on the raft, alone. His goodness depended on his deliverance to that option. If you don’t stick your neck out, and accept Hell as a possible option, then how are you going to get anything done?? By being scared?? Sometimes you do go there, just face it. But you come back. It’s only Christians who think that it’s ETERNAL damnation! Whereas, hellfire and suffering could just be temporary damnation; damnation just for a little while. A night of agony, perhaps three. You get up, have a cup of coffee and a cigarette before breakfast, and get over it. Think long and hard about the misfortunes of others, submerge yourself in a spot of soft relativity.  Wave to your children as they cycle away, to school, where they belong.

I don’t envy my eight year old for his early acquaintance with hell. I will console him, but I will not deprive him of his natural right to feel infinitely destroyed.

No art without suffering.

ACN