How can we be sure this life isn't hell?

[ethereality]

Given the absence of God (especially the more I seek Him), the evil in the world, my numerous sufferings, and the selfishness of myself and apparent selfishness of others, how can I be sure that this life isn’t hell, i.e. that I haven’t already been damned and upon death will be reincarnated back here?

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

This life, due to original sin, can most certainly be tragic and painful. That is why the Salve Regina prayer refers to us as “poor banished children of Eve” and our world as a “valley of tears.”

We do know that this world is not hell because there is still so much good in the world. Hell would be an absence of goodness and a complete absence of God. God is still present in our world through the sacraments (most importantly the Eucharist) and in the goodness that we can still find in each other.

Perhaps at times our prayer is “My God why have you forsaken me?” But its in those moments that we need to dig deep and find our faith and trust to say, “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”