How can an all-loving God condemn anyone to hell?

[Jack_Common]

But how can anyone truly choose hell, something that is completely beyond human comprehension? For an all-loving God to condemn people to hell because they “choose” it seems like a parent letting their child get hit by a car because they “chose” to play in the street.

No one rational person could possibly “choose” unbearable suffering for all eternity, which leaves one of these possibilities:

1. God allows irrational people to go to hell, and therefore is not all-loving or all-just (at least insofar as our limited human minds can perceive it).
2. Hell is somehow something that some people might truly prefer to heaven, but this would seem to go against the very concept of hell.
3. Hell does not exist.

Mike

I’m not denying that because of free will we’re accountable for our sins. My question was why would a just, loving God punish us for those finite sins with something so infinite (and therefore, disproportionate) as hell.

Most people are neither good nor evil. They are somewhere in between. They are vain, frivolous. They do not choose good, they do not choose evil, they just kind of “go with the flow” and follow their desires. Sometimes they do spiteful things, and then they feel sorry afterwards; they feel sentimental about humanity every now and then; sometimes they harbour a grudge in their hearts. But they are not devil-worshippers.

When I was younger, I thought that there was nothing a human being could do to merit eternal punishment. I thought actions such as rape and murder certainly deserved a punishment, but not an infinite one; because, as you say, how can a finite act deserve an infinite punishment?

I was naive and did not understand the nature of good & evil, just what a distance there is between good & evil. There is in an evil in this world that most men don’t ever come across because 1. it’s hidden, 2. it’s too evil to imagine. Most people think that evil is murder, rape, theft, torture, lying, war, poverty, etc. While these things are evil, they are not the “essence” of evil, if you like, not the source of evil. The real evil in the world is what the Old Testament calls an “abomination”, or “the abomination of desolation”.

In the Gospel Christ talks about the lost sheep being lead away by the wolves. Most people are lost sheep, in that they have some sentimental goodness, but they are confused and vain and are lost. These people go to hell not so much because they deserve to be in hell, but more that they don’t deserve to be in heaven. They neglected goodness, they refused to seek the truth, they spent their days in vanity, they never prayed, they thought they could waste their lives in drunkenness and gossip and never discover the infinite worth of their own God-given souls. These aren’t the people that hell was made for.

Hell was made for the devil and his angels, and those that the Gospel calls “wolves”. Who are these wolves? Well, in describing them you will think I am talking about a different species, or about vampires or something out of horror stories. But they exist. These people are people who understand that there is a God, they understand that there is a heaven and a hell, they understand that all they need to do to go to heaven is bow down and worship they Creator - and yet they refuse, they formally, in their hearts, hate and despise God their Creator. They wish death and destruction upon others and upon themselves just to spite God. They will mutilate and defile their own immortal souls just to spite their Creator. They go about this world, like vampires, looking for souls to defile, because they have a filthy lust, like the demons, that delights in corrupting others and bringing them to share the misery of hell. Let me make it clear - you think that nobody would choose to go to hell forever, but these people, with perfect clarity in their minds, choose to go to hell. These people are devil-worshippers, they hate their own souls. They bow down and worship Satan. This is the abomination of desolation. This is not something that is known, because the devil and his servants hide it from the public eye. There was a time when devil worship and human sacrifice was done openly in society, but now they are reduced to doing it in secret. I only discovered it by accident myself; but when I discovered it I no longer questioned the existence of hell, in fact, I thanked God that hell did exist because these people deserve to go there forever.

I said early that most people are frivolous and are neither good nor evil, but these people are serious. They took life seriously, and they saw clearly the distance between good & evil, and they chose evil. You said that you couldn’t understand why a person can be punished infinitely for a finite act - this is the thing, their hatred for God is in some sense infinite, because God is infinite goodness and so to hate God is in some sense an infinite hatred. Now, the reason why the lost sheep share in eternal punishment is because they do implicitly follow Satan as well. Because the lost sheep are following their own desires - they chase after worldly things like money, power, sex, etc. Now, if they took their desires to the logical conclusion, they would realise that to get what they desired they should bow down and worship Satan, because Satan is he who bestows these “gifts”, he is the “god of this world”. But they don’t bow and worship Satan explicitly, because they are vain, they only worship money, power, etc., half-heartedly, they aren’t ready to truly worship it. They sit on the fence. But this fence-sitting is totally unacceptable to God who is infinite goodness. They spend their lives worshipping creatures in their hearts and never ask for their Creator. Therefore, they have a kind of infinite indifference that deserves an infinite punishment.

 

[PRmerger]

I don’t know man. I mean a guy who drags his wife by her hair over burnt toast has obviously got more going on than a hatred of burnt toast. He’s obviously missing a bit of heart too. So yeah. A guy like that deserves to be made to eat that toast for sure. And to apologize. And maybe even to get dragged around by the hair a bit. But I’m not sure any of us would really be all that comfortable watching him scream in agony for an eternity for that.

What is the alternative? He gets 100 years in hell, but then gets to enter into heaven for an eternity of bliss?

 

[TK421]

Nobody goes to hell for what they do. Hitler is not going to go to hell because he murdered millions of people, and the sadistic man above is not going to go to hell because he dragged his wife around by her hair.

People go to hell because of what they don’t do. People that do not repent of their sins, but enter eternity in a state of final impenitence, will suffer an eternity of torment as a result of their eternity of depravity. All other sins will be forgiven. All of them. No exceptions.

 

[PRmerger]

Nobody goes to hell for what they do. Hitler is not going to go to hell because he murdered millions of people, and the sadistic man above is not going to go to hell because he dragged his wife around by her hair.

People go to hell because of what they don’t do. People that do not repent of their sins, but enter eternity in a state of final impenitence, will suffer an eternity of torment as a result of their eternity of depravity. All other sins will be forgiven. All of them. No exceptions.

This is not a correct articulation of Catholic teaching.

 

[TK421]

Yea it is. The only unforgivable sin is impenitence. Nothing else ultimately sends you to hell, since they are all forgiven (unless there is impenitence).

Anything else would be Purgatory.

 

[CRATUS]

So here’s a thought for you to manage. Here’s a thing to think on. As I’ve heard this thing about heaven and hell. And I’ve heard the going on and back about it.

But I think these things are so far beyond what we understand that the reality would really be a shock.

So here’s my best effort. My best way of seeing this make sense. Suppose all souls go before God. Suppose all souls just stand there. Waiting. Watching. Listening. Learning.

So the souls who’ve earned heaven. Those ones get flooded with the memories of all the times they’ve helped someone. All the times they stood up in the face of evil. All the times they made good choices. Yeah they might see the odd bad action. Yeah they might have the odd regret. But the sum total comes out a plus for them. They get to stand there and realize that the world is a net benefit for them having lived there. They made that difference. They can see the positives multiplying as generations come in some kind of contact with that. It goes on and on.

And in the same way the souls who’ve earned hell get treated to the actual consequences of what they’ve done. They get to see how many generations have been hurt by their selfishness. How badly they’ve damaged the people who cared for them. They get a real taste of it. And they know that the damage they’ve caused has outweighed the good. They’ve left the world as a net negative.

Because God is Truth. So all Truth is revealed to everyone. Everyone knows where they stand. They all know the score. And the effects are permanent because the tally’s what it is. It can’t be changed. The effects are ongoing as they linger. They feel the effects. Truly. As they are.

I don’t know if that helps.

Peace.

-Trident

this is supported in the bible and many near death experiences. Many people who had near death experiences are able to know truly hurtful they have been to others. Surely no one’s life is perfect. If we saw a play by play of every action in our lives - that is the truth. How our little mark caused someone to do this and do that. If people saw much they have impacted the lives of others,

 

[PRmerger]

Yea it is. The only unforgivable sin is impenitence. Nothing else ultimately sends you to hell, since they are all forgiven (unless there is impenitence).

All sins are forgiven if you repent.

But if you don’t repent, you don’t get forgiven.

Which means you are sent to hell for what you’ve done.

 

[PRmerger]

Those that enter Heaven by the mercy of God will praise Him forever. Those who enter hell by their own obstinacy will curse & hate God forever. They will sin forever.

Now this?

This is very Catholic!

 

[TK421]

All sins are forgiven if you repent.

But if you don’t repent, you don’t get forgiven.

Which means you are sent to hell for what you’ve done.

And what you have done is refused to make peace with God, in spite of God doing everything on His end in a very personal way as a human being (the salvific narrative).

Which is a very important point in the human person’s efforts of trying to wrap their mind & heart around the justice of hell. We think of fleeting earthly offenses, and compare them to the eternity of hell, and our sense of justice -especially with a properly formed conscience - feels betrayed in the most extreme of terms. We can’t fathom such a thing.

But external wicked actions speak of a dark interior reality within a human being: it is an interior reality that is without remorse or love, so that even when they do a wicked thing, they are not moved to contrition, because if they were moved to contrition, then their sins - however great - would not be their undoing.

A soul in hell suffers forever, not just because of their earthly life, but because they are fundamentally opposed to God. Their sins don’t stop the moment they stop breathing. They keep sinning, forever, and ever, and ever, through their hatred. The punishment is eternal just as the sin is eternal. If the souls were not fundamentally opposed to God, but were contrite, then they would incur a punishment for their wicked deeds, but this punishment would be satisfied in Purgatory, which is temporal.

 

[PRmerger]

And what you have done is refused to make peace with God, in spite of God doing everything on His end in a very personal way as a human being (the salvific narrative).

Right.

So you go to hell for your action–dragging your wife around by her hair, and refusing to repent for that.

 

[Trident_H]

What is the alternative? He gets 100 years in hell, but then gets to enter into heaven for an eternity of bliss?

Well man I told you the whole score. I said that whatever I felt about it was a side issue. That my feeling it was too harsh a punishment was just me being soft. And that soft wasn’t the ‘in’ thing in heaven.

But if you want my real answer on this? I’d say less than a minute of being a human torch should be enough to convince even the densest of people that they’ve been bad. I mean if it was me? And I was the wife? I’d welcome that guy into heaven with open arms after he’d had enough of a taste of his own pain to not want anymore.

Why would I do that? Because I’d be in heaven! I’d be a saint. And what would I care if a guy I once spent the eternity’s equivalent of five seconds with turned out to be able to say he was sorry only after having his nose rubbed in it? I mean I’d be so blissfully happy that I think I’d have peace to share. And you know what? I think that lady would be happiest in having that way of sharing. And maybe for the guy, living in her mercy would be a kind of hell. I don’t know.

What do you think?

Peace PR.

-Trident

 

[PRmerger]

Well man I told you the whole score. I said that whatever I felt about it was a side issue. That my feeling it was too harsh a punishment was just me being soft. And that soft wasn’t the ‘in’ thing in heaven.

But if you want my real answer on this? I’d say less than a minute of being a human torch should be enough to convince even the densest of people that they’ve been bad. I mean if it was me? And I was the wife? I’d welcome that guy into heaven with open arms after he’d had enough of a taste of his own pain to not want anymore.

Why would I do that? Because I’d be in heaven! I’d be a saint. And what would I care if a guy I once spent the eternity’s equivalent of five seconds with turned out to be able to say he was sorry only after having his nose rubbed in it? I mean I’d be so blissfully happy that I think I’d have peace to share. And you know what? I think that lady would be happiest in having that way of sharing. And maybe for the guy, living in her mercy would be a kind of hell. I don’t know.

What do you think?

Peace PR.

-Trident

Well, I recently heard an analogy. You tell me what you think about this:

You and your wife have a 10 yr old boy and a 3 yr old girl. You are at the entrance to Disney World. Your son punches your daughter, hard, in the face. Just because.

As a punishment you say, “Son, you have to stay out of Disney World for 5 seconds as your punishment. But then the rest of the day, we’re going to have a glorious time!”

What do you think about this?

Is this justice?

 

[Trident_H]

Well, I recently heard an analogy. You tell me what you think about this:

You and your wife have a 10 yr old boy and a 3 yr old girl. You are at the entrance to Disney World. Your son punches your daughter, hard, in the face. Just because.

As a punishment you say, “Son, you have to stay out of Disney World for 5 seconds as your punishment. But then the rest of the day, we’re going to have a glorious time!”

What do you think about this?

Is this justice?

Yeah. I’m seeing what you’re saying here. I really am. But here’s what I’m saying back.

“Son, you can’t come into Disney World until you’ve apologized to your sister and suffered a consequence of similar scale.” At which point good old dad whops junior on the butt. Junior’s left out in the car until he’s ready to apologize sure. But get this. Dad doesn’t leave him there by himself now does he? Dad’s waiting outside the car for his son to work things out and get back on track because Dad cares as much about his son as his daughter.

Now here’s a question. How long do you think it’d take the boy to realize it’s better to apologize and get into Disney World than to just sulk alone in the car?

 

[PRmerger]

Yeah. I’m seeing what you’re saying here. I really am. But here’s what I’m saying back.

“Son, you can’t come into Disney World until you’ve apologized to your sister and suffered a consequence of similar scale.” At which point good old dad whops junior on the butt. Junior’s left out in the car until he’s ready to apologize sure. But get this. Dad doesn’t leave him there by himself now does he? Dad’s waiting outside the car for his son to work things out and get back on track because Dad cares as much about his son as his daughter.

Now here’s a question. How long do you think it’d take the boy to realize it’s better to apologize and get into Disney World than to just sulk alone in the car?

So here’s the thing, Trident. You only get one chance to get into Disney. You don’t get to keep trying and trying until you get it right.

That’s what “life” is for. But at the end, you have to make your choice.

 

[Trident_H]

So here’s the thing, Trident. You only get one chance to get into Disney. You don’t get to keep trying and trying until you get it right.

That’s what “life” is for. But at the end, you have to make your choice.

Ok. And I mean I’m mindful of that too. That day’s passing by. A guy can’t sit in the car all day and then expect to still get in on all the rides. I get that too.

I don’t skip through life thinking I can always make it work out on the other side. I mean my wishful thinking’s only that: wishful. The reality’s the reality. Whether I like it or not, right? So I really thank you for making a good effort to make sure I’ve got that in mind. And I thank you for letting me tag along on this.

Peace PR. You’ve got a good aim in this.

-Trident

 

[christianvoice]

Sorry, your right… forgive my terminology. old and new testament is what I meant.

Now, I’m not saying no one follows the 10 commandments… I think most of the world has seen how silly that list is… only real commandments on there are don’t steal and don’t kill. I think most animals in the world know this… a 5 year old atheist kids knows this, we do not need the obvious spelt out to us. The old testament isn’t really even a catholic doctrine… its more of a Jewish book than anything. I find most Catholics do not diss it - but not many believe in it… from the 900 year old people, living in a fish, talking snakes, its all voodoo and really does not go with what us Christians believe in the new testimant…

Hell and all that nonsense - was designed to keep people in fear, and coming to church. The new Generation of Christians follow Christ out of love and whats inside… not cause were afraid of the boggy man…

I am assuming that when you say “First Testament” you mean the Old Testament and “Second Testament” you mean the New Testament.

First of all, I’m a little confused. Are you suggesting that Christians do not follow the Ten Commandments?

Second of all, what are your opinions on Matthew 5:22, Matthew 5:29, Matthew 7:21, Matthew 25:41? Does “eternal fire” and “Gehenna” not sound like a fiery place where the condemned are sent (i.e hell)? Or is this “second testament nonsense”? Does it sound like everyone is already in heaven when not everyone will make it? All of these verses were spoken by Jesus, so I’m not sure where you got your opinion from.

 

[sanchoquijote]

Thanks to all for your replies. A few more thoughts:
1-I’ve seen some replies to the effect that the rules of the game are clear, and we have free will, so anyone in hell “chose” to go there. I think that’s overly simplistic. Yes, we have the Ten Commandments, but even religious scholars don’t all agree on the nature of sin, much less when one has crossed the line and when one has not. I think it’s a bit harsh to say that hell is easy to avoid by simply “following the rules,” especially given our broken nature and this very complex world in which we live.
2- I’ve also seen arguments that God is infinite, and therefore our sins are infinite, and therefore deserving of unbearable, eternal punishment. I think just the opposite. Any sin against the infinite is finite, and near zero. If you can imagine sinfulness of a trillion to the trillionth power, and divide it by infinity, you get zero, or maybe even negative (it gets a bit theoretical, I guess). It would seem that the worst sinner against God would be a like gnat flapping its wings from the other side of the universe, in terms of effect.
3- I’ve also seen arguments that hell is necessary for justice. Why? Why isn’t purgatory good enough? Let the worst do their time in purgatory, but let them eventually be cleansed.
4- I also see some pretty glib notions about what happens to someone who dies at the wrong time. Yes, exactly: would God really send Mother Theresa to hell if she had a bad day right before her death? That would seem to argue against hell.
5- I guess what it comes down to is that this is such a horrible concept, and yes, it frightens me that I may suffer that fate or that my loved ones may, so I may just be hoping that “all men might be saved” to know that I’m among them. But even knowing that I and my loved ones would be spared, I would never wish hell upon anyone, no matter how terrible. If we’re made in the image and likeness of God, I can’t imagine that God would do any differently.

 

[TK421]

Now here’s a question. How long do you think it’d take the boy to realize it’s better to apologize and get into Disney World than to just sulk alone in the car?

Maybe 20 minutes. In the case of hell: a fraction of a second.

But we need to understand what “being sorry” means. Telling your sister “sorry” after you punched her in the face in order to get into Disney World isn’t contrition. It’s intelligence. Contrition isn’t something that can be produced by a few manipulations, or even all the manipulation in the world. It is an interior disposition. As adults we can use our power and authority to make children say “sorry” - which is all well and good - but what we are doing is making them satisfy the external condition in the hopes that they’ll also make the internal action, but that internal action isn’t something we have any power over, and neither does God himself.

I keep reading this again and again in the hell threads: that people in hell must surely be sorry once they get there. No, they’re not sorry. They are sorry that they are in hell. Hell is not a place where contrite sinners, stirred by love of God and neighbor, go to suffer forever in some unspeakably twisted reality. Hell is a place where the reprobate go. And if you look around in the world, there are some clearer examples of people that are evil. People that steal from impoverished families for their own superabundant comfort. People that sell women’s bodies and let them get raped and abused like toys, and laugh about it. People that take sadistic pleasure in discriminating against an entire group of people. People that haughtily look down upon everybody that they encounter, and hunger for power. And what’s more, these things aren’t reserved to an obscure minority of sociopaths. If you provide the right conditions, you can actually get a substantial chunk of the population of a nation on board with some of the most heinous things.

We are all sinners in need of God’s mercy, but some choose to have nothing to do with that mercy.

We need to have more faith in God and less faith in ourselves. God isn’t going to permit somebody an eternity apart from Him unless that person really belongs there. He knows what he is doing.

 

[Fauken]

Sorry, your right… forgive my terminology. old and new testament is what I meant.

Now, I’m not saying no one follows the 10 commandments… I think most of the world has seen how silly that list is… only real commandments on there are don’t steal and don’t kill. I think most animals in the world know this… a 5 year old atheist kids knows this, we do not need the obvious spelt out to us. The old testament isn’t really even a catholic doctrine… its more of a Jewish book than anything. I find most Catholics do not diss it - but not many believe in it… from the 900 year old people, living in a fish, talking snakes, its all voodoo and really does not go with what us Christians believe in the new testimant…

Hell and all that nonsense - was designed to keep people in fear, and coming to church. The new Generation of Christians follow Christ out of love and whats inside… not cause were afraid of the boggy man…

Ah, the “any five year old” fallacy. I’m not even sure if kids are even able to properly understand what it means to be an Athiest at five, but I’ll focus on your animals.

So I suppose that lions that kill gazelle are murderous sociopaths, since they know murder is a sin and don’t care, and a chimp that steals food is a thief because it knows thievery is wrong but doesn’t care? The walrus who rapes a female knows it’s wrong? I’m not saying animals are stupid, but animals cannot think in the abstract. Animals can only think in terms of the present; if I talk to a chimp about the lion I saw yesterday, the chimp will hear “lion” and run away. It doesn’t know I’m taking in past tense. How could animals then understand a concept as abstract as morality?

That “Jewish book” is the origin of Catholicism. The law Jesus was sent to fulfill and to create a new covenant in its place. The prophesies concerning the coming and mission of Christ are in the Old Testament, and I doubt you’d dismiss them as just part of some book. You can’t take all of the Old Testament (or the Bible for that matter) and treat it all the same or like one large history book. The Old Testament’s stories still contain lessons that most certainly do apply to Christians today.

And as it says in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God; that we keep his Commandments. And his commandments are not heavy.”

1 John 2:3: “And we can be sure that we have loved him by this; if we observe his commandments.”

Surely eleven commandments cannot be that difficult?

Do you honestly believe that people have only begun to love Christ and not because of force? After 2000 years? That’s rather insulting to the faith of the Christians who have come before us. How are you certain that early Christians followed Christianity out of fear and not love?

 

[abelville]

sanchoquijote
Hi my friend. Following is a play that St Therese (the little flower) is supposed to have written. Its a nice thought.

She wrote a Christmas play for her sisters, in which the Child Jesus insists, in correction of the Angel of Vengeance, that, “every soul will find forgiveness”. On the last day, the Child Jesus will remain “the God of love” who suffered to recompense all of the sins of the entire human race. The following account is published in French.

“She has various angels assemble around the crib: the ‘Angel of the Child Jesus’ and the ‘Angel of the Holy Face’ (the Passion) sing of the infinite love of the Son of Man in anticipation of his coming suffering but also of his Resurrection and triumph.

“Then there appears the ‘Angel of the Last Judgment,’ armed with a sword and a pair of scales.

“The following excerpt from the ‘Angel of the Last Judgement’s’ lines may be cited here:

‘The day of reckoning is coming soon; this impure world will be forced to go through fire. We will see the radiance of his glory, no longer concealed beneath the features of a child; we will extol his triumph and acknowledge him as the Almighty. You will tremble; the inhabitants of the earth will not bear the wrath of this Child, who today is the God of love. He chooses suffering and demands in return only your frail heart. At the time of judgment, you will recognize his power and quake before the avenging God.’

“The ‘Angel of the Holy Face’ speaks, requesting of the Child the promised mercy for those sinners whose conversion gives God greater joy than do the ninety-nine righteous who have no need of repentance.

“After this comes the voice of the Child:

‘I will listen to your request: every soul will find forgiveness.’

“The Angel of Vengeance once again objects:

‘Do you forget, Jesus, that the sinner must be punished; do you forget, in your exceeding love, that the number of the godless is endless? At the time of judgment, I want to punish the crimes, to destroy all the ungrateful; my sword is ready, well will I know how to avenge you!’

“Then the Child Jesus:

‘Beautiful angel, lower your sword. It is not for you to judge the nature that I desired to set in being and to redeem. I myself am the Judge of the world, and my name is Jesus.’

“The Angel of Judgment kneels down and, ‘quite beside himself, wonders at your unutterable love.’

“At the end, all the angels together say:

‘How great is the bliss of the lowly creature. Despite their rapture, the seraphs would like to forsake their angelic nature and be changed to children with you.’

Theatre au Carmel, Paris: Cerf, DDB, 1985, p. 108

Therese taught in her autobiography, “Story of a Soul”, that pagans can be saved without Christian belief, saying that “vast numbers of poor savages [who] died before they had even heard the name of God” are “much lesser saints” and “wild flowers whose homeliness delights Him”.

“I had wondered for a long time why God had preferences and is by all souls did not receive an equal amount of grace. I was astonished to see how He showered extraordinary favours on saints who had sinned against Him, saints such as St. Paul and St. Augustine. He forced them, as it were, to accept His graces. I was just as astonished when I read the lives of saints to see that Our Lord cherished certain favoured souls from the cradle to the grave and never allowed any kind of obstacle to check their flight towards Him. He bestowed such favours on them that they were unable to tarnish the spotless splendour of their baptismal robe. I also wondered why such vast numbers of poor savages died before they had even heard the name of God.

“Jesus saw fit to enlighten me about this mystery. He set the book of nature before me and I saw that all the flowers He has created are lovely. The splendour of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. I realised that if every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wild flowers to make the meadows gay.

“It is just the same in the world of souls—which is the garden of Jesus. He has created the great saints who are like the lilies and the roses, but He has also created much lesser saints and they must be content to he the daisies or the violets which rejoice His eyes whenever He glances down. Perfection consists in doing His will, in being that which He wants us to be.

“I also understood that God’s love shows itself just as well in the simplest soul which puts up no resistance to His grace as it does in the loftiest soul. Indeed, as it is love’s nature to humble itself, if all souls were like those of the holy doctors who have illumined the Church with the light of their doctrine, it seems that God would not have stooped low enough by entering their hearts. But God has created the baby who knows nothing and can utter only feeble cries. He has created the poor savage with no guide but natural law, and it is to their hearts that He deigns to stoop. They are His wild flowers whose homeliness delights Him. By stooping down to them, He manifests His infinite grandeur. The sun shines equally both on cedars and on every tiny flower. In just the same way God looks after every soul as if it had no equal. All is planned for the good of every soul, exactly as the seasons are so arranged that the humblest daisy blossoms at the appointed time.”

Story of a Soul

romancatholicism.org/therese.html

God Bless you!!

Al