Death Where Is Thy Sting?

Recently a friend of the family passed away unexpectedly. He was only 39 and had just purchased a home. Things were going great in his life, as he posted on his Facebook profile one evening. That very night he had a brain hemorrhage and went into a coma from which he never awoke. Our family attended his memorial service this last weekend.

With the recent loss of my Mom and with the passing of this young man, I have found myself thinking more often about my own mortality. I will be 45 in September, and I just recently came to the realization that in only 15 years I will be 60!



I am not afraid of Death. In fact, she has been a constant companion in my life. I am a person of faith and do believe in an afterlife, although I do not follow the traditional ideas of Heaven and Hell. I can't bring myself to believe in a Creator who would send anybody to a lake of fire for eternal punishment for their sins. Nobody that I have ever met has done anything that would deserve such a punishment. To me, the idea of Hell is the most sadistic and cruel torment conceivable. How could a God who was good possibly condone such a thing? Likewise, I don't believe in a Heaven that is reserved only for the faithful of one religion. That's far too elitist for me. Think about it, according to most modern religions, God judges us simply by what we believe, not by who we are.



When I was a kid I read a Chick tract that caused me a great deal of alarm and worry for the fate of my soul. In the little comic book, God was a faceless, impersonal giant who sat on a great throne. When the man in the comic book died, he stood naked while his entire life was displayed on a giant movie screen for everybody to see and he was judged for all of his sins. As a young boy, I was afraid that I would meet the same fate, and I would stand naked and humiliated as every bad thought and deed I ever had was displayed for all to see. Thankfully, I later came to realize that this was simply a fear tactic used to scare people into following the Christian religion.

So what do I believe about the afterlife? Well, I must honestly confess that I don't know exactly what awaits on the other side, but I am not afraid. I sometimes look forward to the afterlife as the ultimate adventure, the great unknown. The ancient Celts believed in the Summerlands, a peaceful resting place where the dead were reunited with their families and loved ones. They also believed in reincarnation. These ideas are much more compatible with my own personal beliefs about death and rebirth.

I can't conceive of the idea that when we die we simply cease to exist. That would be the worst fate possible, apart from suffering in Hell for eternity. I can't believe that this life is all that their is. I believe that the soul, that part of a person that captures who they are and makes them unique, lives on in some way. I don't follow any particular religious texts for my guide in such matters. Instead I look to the book of Nature. To me, Nature gives a pretty accurate account of the journey of the soul. We all travel through the seasons of life until we reach the winter of our death. But life doesn't end there! The spring comes again, as it does year after year. Life continues on in an endless circle, and I believe that it is the same way with the human spirit.



One of these days I will breathe my last and will face life's ultimate adventure... Death! I believe that she will wrap me gently in her arms and carry me over to the other side, to the Summerlands where I will be reunited with my loved ones who have made the journey before me. Can I prove it? No, but I can look to Mother Nature for answers. It's all written there, if you just know where to look.