LIFE AFTER DEATH (The silence at the end of things)
The heaviest yoke around the neck of the human race is living with uncertainty, and we deal with this uncertainty in great and small ways, although we're largely unaware of it. The fact of the uncertainty of our lives, can be examined in almost every area of our existence, including existence itself. Uncertainty is there when we interact with others, when we choose, when we claim a belief that we cannot directly prove as truth; and nowhere is uncertainty as strongly prevalent perhaps, as in the question of life after death.
Much has been written about that tender spot in the human psyche and as much as we might ponder or ignore the question, we cannot say “I know." We can at best say “I believe." I suppose we could also say “I don't care", however, I challenge anyone to hold that thought on the tightrope of their life.
For myself, as a funeral director, the fact of our living is inexorably tied to the question of our dying. And the question of our dying is inexorably tied to the question of “is there some kind of 'life' after death?" Given the fact that our lives, in themselves, are not a given from day to day, the question is also then, automatically posed, as far as I'm concerned; “how are we to live in light of our uncertainty? What is the “flavour" of our days?"
What follows are my thoughts on that, which are (by the way) no more or less valid than your own:
It is now a proven fact that ninety-seven percent of the human body consists of stardust, (the stuff of stars long exploded). Oxygen, Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, Sodium, Chlorine and Magnesium. These elements and other trace elements, are needed, at least for OUR lives, to continue. All from the heavens above and the earth below. In whatever way you might be inclined to believe in God, you may place that spirit or energy into your equation if you wish. I don't feel that the fact these elements are needed, negates anyone's belief in what God might mean. Some of us might even call this state, “the grace of God." I am inclined to do so, although I prefer the word “Spirit." The Spirit of life, power and righteousness given to us by unmerited favour. And yet, many of us don't ponder our state of universality. We forget our kinship with the earth and the stars that provided the raw material.
When we are “born" we think we enter from an empty space into a space filled with others, when we've actually already been in the space, at the source, all of us together, long before we were given a name to carry us through our personal adventures. What we call life is our opportunity for growth, for the betterment of ourselves, our soul or energy. And through the trying and triumphant situations that arise for us in our lives; we understand our responsibility, or we do not. How we respond to all that happens to us is the key to our conscience. Hence, so much good, so much evil. Through our goodness our spirits soar, swell, remain intact. Through our urgencies, our preoccupations, our hurtfulness, anger or greed, we slice the soul thin with the blade of our mindlessness, and the wounds grow over with the thicker skin. And we are proud of that skin; “battle scars" we say; our fortitude and strength. Proud to define ourselves as what happened to us. Longing to define ourselves, so that we don't suddenly “forget" one everyday morning, when we rise – just who we think we are.
But because we're born in different countries and have had different experiences, the illusion is that we ourselves ARE different. We forget or we can't see how interwoven we are, nor the source at our core, from whence we came. The most common denominator for us all – living and “dying."
But as far as I'm concerned, there is no dying. What we perceive birth and death to be is the beginning and the ending of the body; not life itself. Birth and death have always existed within the larger framework we call LIFE. That energy (life) once contained in our body, returns to a source. And so, there is a great possibility of “birth" returning to us in some form or another. Elements of what we are, having been broken down; energy re-shaped, to continue along the cycle of living. Perhaps in a different form, a different plane. If that is true, then what we sow now is what, not only our children, but WE, might reap later. And so, for me; within all of the structures and beliefs that we create for ourselves, we should focus on the UNIVERSALITIES as supreme truth, where the soul remains WHOLE, and this has nothing to do with a belief or disbelief in God.
Care and respect for everyone. Care and respect for the earth on which we move. Personal responsibility. OUR responsibility. Not a higher power's responsibility. And “death," the silence at the end of all things, waits for our last breath to be taken before we can return to a state of potential new creation. What we've forgotten in becoming human - is that state.
LIFE AFTER DEATH (The silence at the end of things)
