[Dr. George Ritchie] :
b. His Guided Tour of the
Ritchie suddenly became aware that he and Jesus were moving. One moment he had been in the hospital, and the next it had completely vanished. The vivid scenes from his life that had surrounded him were gone as well. Now, he found himself high above the Earth, traveling toward a distant point of light.
As they approached, the tiny point expanded into what looked like a large city. It was nighttime, yet the city was alive – factory smokestacks poured into the sky, and buildings glowed with lights on every floor. Beyond the city lay a large body of water. Though unfamiliar, it was clearly a place driven by constant industrial activity, likely tied to wartime production.
As they moved through the city, Ritchie began to notice something strange. Again and again, he saw people who seemed completely unaware of others standing right beside them. In one scene, a woman desperately begged another for a cigarette, but she was ignored. The woman reached again and again, trying to grab it – even attempting to take it directly from the other woman’s mouth – but she could not grasp it. With a sudden realization, Ritchie understood: like himself, she was dead.
They witnessed other scenes just like this. A young man followed his father from room to room, apologizing over and over, but his father could not hear him. A boy trailed a girl through a school hallway, repeating his regret endlessly. A woman pleaded for forgiveness from a man who remained unaware of her presence. These figures were trapped, speaking to the living, yet unable to reach them.
When Ritchie asked why this was happening, the answer came to him as a clear thought: these were
suicides, bound to the consequences of their actions.
He then noticed something else. Every living person was surrounded by a faint glow, like a thin layer of light covering their bodies. This glow moved with them, almost like a second skin. The dead, including himself, did not have it.
Soon they entered a crowded bar near what appeared to be a naval base. The room was filled with sailors and civilians drinking heavily. But among them were other figures – desperate, restless beings who tried again and again to pick up drinks but could not. Their hands passed through glasses, through the bar, even through other people. Like Ritchie, they lacked the glowing sheath of light.
It became clear that the living could not see or feel these beings. Yet
the dead could see and hear each other. Arguments broke out among them over drinks none could actually consume.
Then Ritchie saw something startling. A sailor collapsed, and as he lost
consciousness, the glowing light around him opened at the top. Instantly, one of the
disembodied beings leapt toward the opening and vanished. Moments later, there was only one figure where there had been two. This happened again and again – suggesting that these desperate beings were trying to enter the bodies of the living.
Ritchie began to understand. These spirits seemed driven by intense cravings – especially for things like alcohol – that they could no longer satisfy without a physical body. The realization sent a chill through him. This endless craving, combined with complete inability to fulfill it, felt like a form of
hell.
He had always imagined
hell as a distant place of fire and punishment. But now he saw another possibility: a state of being right here on Earth, invisible to the living, where desire burned strongest precisely where it could never be satisfied.
And then came a deeper realization – this was not just a possibility. This was reality. And he himself was part of it.
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