The rich man in hell, described by Jesus in the story found in
Luke 16, says:
“He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my father’s house, for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’ Luke 16:27-28
In hell, the rich man was conscious of his family and aware of who
they were and where they were. It did
bother him, but that’s what hell is about – worry, regret, pain.
In heaven we don’t forget, so we will know who is not there (maybe
it’s so crowded we can’t tell, but after an eternity we’ll wonder about people
we haven’t seen). However, it doesn’t appear
to bother us, and I don’t mean that in a cold way. We just aren’t tormented
over it. It’s not that we don’t care, but there is a sense of “what’s done is
done.”
The “old order of things” is over. The opportunity to choose has ended.
God is just and justice has been served.
There’s nothing more we can do about it.
Those people who were in our lives made their own choices. We did
our best to convince them.
Keep in mind the overwhelming joy found in heaven that overtakes
every other emotion.
We will probably be more overjoyed over who is in heaven than over
who is not.