Mitch Albom's small novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, is about a character named Eddie who dies and enters into the afterlife where five people he meets there explain his life to him. The main thrust of the story is that there are things we need to understand about our lives, and things we need to let go of, before we can go on to enjoy eternity.

It sounds good. We all understand that we have people who surround us and give meaning to our lives. Most of us could easily identify five such people. But, what might be even more interesting is to name five people we could likely meet in hell ... in other words people we would want to avoid. These would individuals that pose a threat to your spiritual well-being and happiness both here on earth as well as in the hereafter.

I have been giving this question a lot of thought and I have arrived at five that feel comfortable sharing with you (as you read mine, think of whose yours would be).

The FIRST TWO people we might encounter in Hell are actually twins: Justin and Justine. They are the male and female version of one another and either one can worm his or her way into our lives to tempt us. Their favorite word is "just."

"C'mon. Have JUST one more drink. What could it hurt?" "It's JUST one kiss. You know you want to. It doesn't have to mean anything." "Try it. It's JUST a pill. It'll make you feel really good. It's not like I'm asking you to shoot up." "It's JUST a couple of bucks. No one's going to miss it."

JUST a pick-me-up.! JUST sex! JUST a little of your time, your devotion, your life, your soul. What could it hurt? Justin and Justine are your friends and they care about you. They only want to make your life better. Justin and Justine seem to follow us throughout our lives ... "just" making little offers that we find difficult to refuse. And if we let them, they will lead us down a road that leads away from God and toward self-satisfaction and self-destruction. They are not our friends!

The THIRD person we might meet in Hell is Mr. Goodwin. He is the guy who works so hard to convince us that we deserve all the good things the world has to offer, and we should definitely try to accumulate as much as we can. He feels our head with such thoughts as..."Don't feel guilty about the throw-away society you live in," and he adds, "Guilt is a bad thing and it's not good for you. So enjoy all the good things with which God has blessed you and don't hesitate to take some more."

His main attack point is not to worry about all the "have-nots" in the world ... he tells us that they are not our responsibility. When we find our joy in "having" instead of in giving, materialism has become our religion and property has become our god.

The FOURTH person we might meet in Hell is Larry the Lifeguard. Larry's purpose in life is guarding his life. "Stay above water" is his motto. Larry believes that you don't have to give anything to be a Christian. Christianity is a free ride, like surfing on the big waves. Stay on the surface and don't get pulled under by all the problems in the world. Your time here on earth is your own.

Larry' message to us is "Don't get involved." You try to help too many people at the same time and you will get pulled under. So it's best to not get involved with other people's problems. Let them tread water for a while and they will learn to swim for themselves. We have enough problems of our own to get involved with someone else's problems.

Our final encounter might be with Silent Sally. She is the one who is always telling us that we don't have to mention Jesus by name to be His disciple. Sally has trouble bringing herself to mention Jesus' name in public, so she always tells everyone that it's only important that you believe in Him and live as you think He would have you live. She has no problem talking about her political beliefs, or giving her opinion on books, movies or TV programs. But when it comes to faith in Jesus Christ, she says, "That's personal." Her approach is that people will look at your lifestyle and automatically know that you believe in God.

These are the people I believe I might encounter in Hell. Do any of these people seem familiar to you? if so, are we listening to them or are we pushing them away? We don't really want to find out, do we? Satan comes disguised in those we least expect. We need to keep our focus on God. If we are not afraid to lose our life for the Gospel, to pick up our cross and follow Jesus, to unashamedly proclaim Him to the world, then we won't have to worry about meeting anyone in Hell. In fact, we may even help lead a few people away from Hell's open gate.

(The above article has been partially taken from an article in the "Parish Press.")

Dr. Charles M. Wood, II is an accomplished instructor of psychology and religion at Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College. He is a Christian counselor in Logan — serving, ministering, and donating his time to people from all denominations.

If you would like to contact Dr. Wood, please write: The Logan Banner, c/o The Good Life With Dr. Wood, P.O. Box 720, Logan, WV 25601; or call (304) 752-4658. All letters addressed to Dr. Wood will be forwarded to his office.