Headed to Hell

Blog Post #54

“Kristen, you are going straight to hell!”

I have said this to myself a few different times in my life.

Once, when I retorted to a boy who said my life was perfect, that, “if my life was perfect, he wouldn’t be in it!”

Another was when I was young and wanted two friends to ride the bus home with me, so I forged their dad’s signature.

Still another was when a friend and I got locked out of a computer lab at school and tried to get back in by picking the lock with a toothpick. Needless to say, that didn’t end well, as the toothpick broke off in the lock and required professional fixing. To make matters worse, when the adults involved asked if we had used a toothpick to pick the lock, I lied and said we didn’t. 

As an adult, I swore I was destined for fire and brimstone when I was put in multiple compromising situations while working for an opera company. In my own mind, I was constantly battling the line between what was acting and what was just plain inappropriate, ultimately leading to me ending my opera career and co-founding this ministry with Mom! 

And the list goes on and on!

The commonality? Every time I’ve uttered the phrase proclaiming that my eternal resting place is going to be a hot one, it’s because I know I’ve sinned, either more accidentally, more purposefully, or by omission. Regardless, I’ve fallen short of who God wants me to be and how He wanted me to handle the given situation.

I think we can all relate, because, spoiler alert, we’re all sinners!

And that’s one of the things I love most about the saint we’ve been discussing this week, St. Mary Magdalene. She was a big time sinner, just like all of us! 

I personally find this fact comforting because of the way she turned it all around! She became such a woman of faith, staying by Jesus to the very end, and risking her own life in the process. And she was rewarded for her faithfulness by being the first to see the Resurrected Lord! 

These are just a few of many reasons why Mary Magdalene is a woman we should all befriend and emulate. Not only because of how her life did a 180, but because of how she lived out the rest of her days after Jesus ascended into Heaven. 

Don’t know much about her life after Jesus’ death? Then you definitely need to check out our latest video “The Apostle to the Apostles” to learn more about this fascinating and fiercely loyal saint. 

And, if you want to know even more about St. Mary Magdalene and our Savior, then bring our original musical, “The Demands of Courage” to your church, school, or small group and witness the Passion of Christ from the eyes of his dear friend and follower, Mary Magdalene. 

I love getting into the headspace of this heroic woman, because, if we take nothing else away from her life and legacy, it is that at any point, if you are on the path to hell, you can epically turn it around for a triumphant entrance into your Heavenly Home.