DEATH

Death is simply the final life experience.

So many people seem to be afraid of death. I am not. At least, I do not think or feel that I am. Maybe when my time draws near, I will think or feel differently. I doubt it.

What are people afraid of? No doubt, there are many different answers to this question. One common theme that almost certainly underlies everyone's fear is "fear of the unknown." No one has ever come back from the other side, so we really do not have any firsthand reports to rely on. (I discount all of the reports about people who come back from near-death and tell their stories. The mind can do some pretty strange things when it experiences extreme stress, and all those stories involve some level of extreme stress.)

To the best of my knowledge, there are two common beliefs about the afterlife. The first common belief rejects any possibility of an afterlife. Do not confuse this state with darkness or some other possibly scary experience. These people believe, or at least claim to believe, that there is nothing after death. Life simply stops. There is no consciousness, no unconsciousness, no darkness, NOTHING. Once it happens, you will not experience any discomfort according to this belief. You will not experience anything because you will simply cease to be. I do not fear "nothing." I do not even fear "NOTHING." Add an exclamation point and make that "NOTHING!" and I still do not fear it. Neither should you.

Of course, I doubt whether these people really believe this. If "there are no atheists in a foxhole," there are probably few if any real atheists. My guess is that most people upon facing death as an imminent experience start to believe, if they do not already believe, in an afterlife.

I am not familiar with every religion. In fact, I have limited knowledge of any religion other than my own. From my intensive knowledge of my religion as well as what I know of other religions, I am convinced that the afterlife if it exists (and I am convinced that it does) is a better place than the one we live in.

If there is a Creator (and I am convinced about that as well), then He created us so that we can experience something really good. Of course, there are some good experiences in this life. Based on my own personal experiences as well as what we all read in the newspapers and see on television, there are a whole lot more really bad experiences in this life. I know a few people who seem to have lived a "charmed life" in which nearly everything seems to have gone in their favor. I have no doubt that I simply do not know about the bad that they have experienced. Perhaps I am too jaded, but I have experienced and observed all too much suffering in this world. If the Creator created us to experience something really good, He must have that something ready for us to experience someplace else. That someplace else, to the best of my knowledge, is the afterlife.

The next world is better than this one, of this I am certain. While I am not rushing to get there, I am not afraid of getting there either. Neither should you.

What can we do in the interim? If this life is as bad as it seems to be to me, and even if it is not, I believe that there is only one logical and emotionally sound approach to this life. Help alleviate the suffering of other people so that they can live a better, more satisfying life. Doing so will make my life, your life, and their lives a little easier to bear. It may also make opening the gates to the afterlife a whole lot easier.