Hello, tender friends!
No, this will not be a post full of screaming for repentance. I often pray about when it’s time to release things, or if I’m supposed to release them at all, and Anthony has given me permission to share his experience of hell.
What made me ask him if I could? Most people know that Matthew Perry passed away a few weeks ago. Growing up, Friends was a show that I watched often, and I frequently wonder if people are in heaven or hell.
It has nothing to do with the fact that he was famous. I’m generally curious about people’s final destination, famous or not. But when I read this small excerpt from his memoir, I wondered if he meant he had literally experienced hell:
“‘There is a hell,” he wrote in his memoir. “Don’t let anyone tell you different. I’ve been there: it exists: end of discussion.”‘
If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you know that Anthony spent decades of his life mired in addiction. During that period of his life, he overdosed several times.
One time, when he “came back,” he remembered it like this: “I was running in a dark forest terrified. I thought I heard people calling my name but I couldn’t get to them. I kept tripping and couldn’t stop tripping.”
He didn’t see a lake of fire or encounter demons or Satan himself as some people do. We were dating when he first told me this story, and I hopefully asked if he was perhaps in heaven since he was in a forest and a forest didn’t seem so bad.
“No, I was definitely not in heaven,” he answered.
Truthfully, I knew that before I asked, but I was scared to acknowledge that the man I loved, the man who was to become my husband, could have experienced hell.
(This makes me lean hard into the responsibility to raise up godly children, but I need to wrap this post up).
I don’t know if Matthew Perry is in heaven or hell or anyone else. That’s far beyond me.
What I do know is this: following God doesn’t save any of us from heartache, but it’s still the best way I know of to mitigate the worst of life’s trials. So as for me and my house, we keep imperfectly trying to serve the Lord.
Okay, that’s all for today, tender friends! I’d like to finish up my thoughts related to this post on Thursday. I know I’m overdue for a food post, so I’ll be sharing a food post on Monday.
Thank you for stopping by, thank you to the new friends, and thank you for sharing!
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tea and tenderness 
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