To Rule in Hell

“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav’n.” Satan in Paradise Lost by John Milton. Recently I had a conversation with a friend about the way people really are. He seemed certain that if we are deprived enough of the things we need we will become violent and ruthless. He seemed convinced that this is who we really are under the surface, that this is our true nature. I don’t believe it.

It is better to rule in Hell.

As we grow in consciousness, we get closer to being who we really are. The wild and demonic in us is real and it doesn’t go away. But it does become integrated. I think that our capacity for evil comes from our repugnance and fear of the uncontrollability of things. The powerful seek to retain power, and the powerless seek to acquire it, because power resembles control.

Than serve in Heav'n.

But as we grow in consciousness we lose that fear of the uncontrollability of things. We recognize it for what it is: a vast creative force, and an ongoing act of creativity in which we can participate. Fear prevents us from seeing that if we stop trying to control we unlock true power and become capable of a vastness that can hardly be imagined. But it’s not our own power, it’s a shared power, power bestowed. And it far exceeds anything we could hope to generate or wield alone.

It may be true that circumstances in a post apocalyptic world can bring out hideous behavior. Heck, I saw The Road Warrior. It’s one of my top five. And there’s a horrifying amount of that behavior going on right now, even without the apocalypse. But it’s not who we really are. It’s the result of embracing the opposite of who we are, out of a desire to keep control. Or, better: out of fear of losing control. We choose to rule in hell. The trouble is, to rule in hell, we have to live there.

Ever forward.

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