Robin, Where Are You Now?

From an over-the-top genie, to a cross-dressed nanny from Britain, Robin Williams knew how to make people laugh.  Whenever I would see him on the television I would instantly smile, at least on the inside.  Mork and Mindy was the first exposure that I had to Williams.  He was a good comedian.  Over the past few days millions of people have offered similar comments to these above.  Famous people, semi-famous people, and people the likes of me have all shared in the mourning process.  Like many hollywood stars, even if you did not know them, you felt you had.  But, who was it that we came to know?  We knew the characters that he played.  Perhaps some had opportunity to meet Robin when he was not on the stage or before the camera.  But, was that him or was he simply in character again?  I wonder, spending his entire life being someone else, did know who he was?  

Truly sad.  Again, Facebook has been flooded, Twitter overwhelmed with thoughts about Williams.  Thoughts reflecting on who he was and what he did.  But I wonder, where is Robin Williams now?  A few remarks have suggested that he is in a better place.  One even used the image of Aladdin freeing genie with the caption “your free”.  Is Robin Williams really free?  Can one really overcome such troubles by taking his own life?  What is the afterlife made of anyway?  What does God do with the likes of Robin Williams.  Some would say that he is in hell, there he will spend eternity in torment.  Yet, as his suicide might suggest, has he not already been living in such torment?  Others might suggest that God does not send people to hell, that certainly Williams was a good man, he gave to good causes, and did good things.  He is looking down on us now, smiling from heaven.  However, what did Williams do with Jesus?  Christ was unmistakably clear, there is only one way to the father, one way to inherit eternal life, through him.  

There are many other issues that complicate things.  We are uncertain of Williams’ mindset. Depression is a powerful thing that can cause us to behave out of our right mind.  In truth, we simply cannot know what has become of Robin Williams, at least not for certain.  There seems to be far too many unanswered questions, variables of which we have no conception.  Fortunately, its not our job to determine a man’s final destination.  We do not have all the answers, but there is one that does, God.  

The ultimate question of a person’s eternal home has much to do with a person’s present.  Hell is not a place that God sends evil people because they have angered Him.  Hell exemplifies that God loves us and wants us to know his love, it might even be a gift.  Hell is a reality that people choose, a realty without God.  Its an option that affirms “I don't have to love God”.  True divine love is possible for us because of such a reality as hell.  What mades hell so bad is not God’s anger, but the fact that life without God in eternity, is even worse than life without God in the present.  C. S. Lewis once suggested in his Mere Christianity that God created this world to run on Him, attempting to run on anything else would be destructive.  Like gasoline in a car, filling it with any other fuel would destroy the engine.  The question of Robin Williams’ present reality has everything to do with how he felt about the presence of God.  In the deepest parts of his person, God knows.  We may offer a few conclusions based upon evidence that rose to the top during his life on earth, but only God knows what is beneath the surface.