LIFE AFTER DEATH
I hate to say it (I really do) but we simply don’t
know. To say there is, or to say there
isn’t, are both assertions for which there is very little evidence. If you exclude religious mythology (the
golden palaces of heaven and burning lake of hell of Christianity, for example),
and don’t believe in ghosts, what remains to suggest that life goes on, maybe in some spiritual form?
For me, there is only one, rather faint, hint:
I have known some individuals whose soul was so great, their personalities so
indomitable, it seems hard to imagine that mere death could have put a stop to
them! Christians refer to a “cloud of witnesses,”
the saints, who live on. Having known and mourned some saints it is attractive
to imagine their spirit lives on. Attractive,
but certainly wishful thinking. “Wishful”
isn’t necessarily wrong! But a certain healthy skepticism here isn’t a bad idea
either.
So: I hope to be pleasantly surprised if I “cross the
river” and discover there is a happy land on the other side—or that somehow I
get to stay conscious, at least. I would miss awareness!
However, there is a
definite downside to a too-certain belief in a blissful eternity (and maybe a
hell for those we disagree with?): it leads to a certain detachment and
disengagement from this world, and at worst leads to a violent religious
extremism that sees little value in this life and, abominably, the lives of
others.
So--to sum up: allow for the possibility that there is something
beyond death, but don’t count on it! Iive your life as if this is all you will
get. And be a good steward of your time .
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