Musings from My Mind on Life After Death

Day 10

I have never been very good about what to say at a funeral. The standard lines he/she is; in a better place, at peace, at rest, with God... seem so cliche. I try to say is something comforting from the heart.

Is there life after death? Or when we die, do we just cease to exist? These questions have plagued man since he first questioned human mortality.

What really happens? Are we in a palace sitting with God? Do we meet all of the people we knew who passed before we did? Or do we come to an end when the synapses in the brain stop firing and the body can no longer function on it's own?

If there is a heaven and we get what we want all the time, won't that get boring? If I'm fishing in heaven and I'm always catching record size fish in large numbers, where is the challenge?

Conversely why should I try to live a good life if there's no reward at the end?

 It depends on what you believe. It's a matter of faith.

Here's my two cents. Everything on this planet (probably in the universe) is recycled. Nothing just ceases to exist. Everything eventually breaks down and is reused. We are born of this earth and when we die our bodies return to this earth as food for others, from bacteria on up. We consume other inhabitants of earth from animals to plants to fish to water and even bacteria. It's a synergy. This system has worked since time began. That's what happens to our bodies. So why should our mind, the very essence of who we are, be wasted?

We are more than just flesh, blood and bone. We think, we reason, we question our own existence. Our minds are a culmination of our experiences which are wholly unique to each individual. This can be attributed to experiences and perception. No two people perceive things exactly the same. Thus we are influenced differently. I believe the mind is the soul and it continues after death.

I have a large print of a Victorian house with a wrap around porch, sitting next to a stream with a stone bridge and path leading to a barn. With a red sunset and tall blue and white mountains in the background. In the foreground left are two birch trees (my grandma liked birch trees). This is my idea of heaven and when I get there I know the ones I love who have gone before will be there. The ones who come after will find me there.

Those who don't believe will tell me I am lying to myself. To that I my answer is if I'm wrong and there is no afterlife, I'll never know.

Thanks for stopping by. See you tomorrow,

Ken

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