A hell of a laugh!

A follow up to my reading of "The mountain of Silence":

An interesting little passage in the book is talking about elders, a life of surrendered suffering, and hell. The author is speaking with the primary monk, Father Maximos and another lady. Father Maximos is telling the story of a contemporary saint (deceased at the time of writing) who lived under the authority of an angry, bitter elder. This heroic monk suffered for 42 years lest the grace of god depart from him. Well, after the angry old elder dies the hero monk has a vision of the angry elder suffering in hell, seperated from god. Tragedy arises on so many levels in this story, but it is the following passage that caught my attention:

"Father Maximos stopped for a few moments and smiled as he looked at our faces that mirrored incredulity. Then he proceeded. "There is more to this story. One day while elder Ephraim [the tragic hero monk] was in deep prayer, he had a vision. With the Grace of the Holy Spirit he realized that his elder, upon his death, was cut off from God and was suffering in Hell."
"It does not suprise me, " Maria quipped, and we all laughed."

Emphasis added by me. Of this entire book, which I have casually enjoyed overall, those last words ring loudest for me......as they thought of a fellow monk, one who had inadvertedly been a blessing to Father Ephraim, suffering in hell the laughed. What a shallow, revealing passage. The thought of another human being who was at worst grumpy and mean, suffering in hell was funny to them. Expected and funny. How does this speak of their supposed belief in not only hell, but of agape love?

Firstly, if they truly believed in hell, would they laugh? Would not, should not, the thought of a person suffering in hell (however you defined it) conjure some emotion other than humor? Perhaps sadness, pity, dare I say - compassion? It seems to reveal to me that they do not truly beleive in hell - empty words echoing empty creeds.

Secondly, the entire story is an odd expression of agape love - to say the least. The misery of that Father Ephraim suffered for 42 years pales compared to the supposed misery of hell - and it was the casual acceptance of that fate that flies directly in the face of agape love.

This is just one example of the casual lack of integrity in the minds of christian soldiers.

Secondly