Laguna Beach and Communication

I've been thinking about how complicated communication is. There is so much going on in people's minds that it makes it really hard to understand where people are coming from when they communicate with you. I'm sure Hal 9000 experienced my current frustration. How do you understand someone's pain and thoughts? How do you understand someone being kicked down a flight of stairs by a nun? How do you understand a child that now an adult but has never been truely loved by their mother? How do you explain the "big picture" to someone that's stuck in a pattern of self-destruction? As Shaun McGill (PDA247) would say, etc, etc, etc.
I think the answer is having Christ in me. I can't seem to make a difference in life unless my focus is on Him. He is always guiding me but I notice that the fullest part of my life is when I'm focused on Him. It's pretty neat actually. Perhaps it's easy to say... you made it hapen with your positive spiritual energy... maybe I did... but maybe God is bigger than how we understand post modern self-serving biblical truths. :)
I used to be afraid of giving myself fully to God, but now I'm starting to feel afraid not to. Sorry to sound Laguna Beach, but like isn't like that what He deserves.

Heaven/Hell

Been thinking about the OT. Here are a few questions that have forced me to think about life back then.
Where did people go when they died before Jesus was born?
How was being a Gentile different than being a Jew?
Did Gentiles go to heaven, or hell before Jesus was born?
Were Gentiles able to have their sins forgiven before the birth of Jesus?
If so, what did they do to have their sins forgiven? Did they have to shed blood?
Was Jesus a go-between (between man and God) before he was born?