I have had a few weeks where every week I have had to think about the death of someone. I have led a couple of funerals. I have helped out at defusings or been available in a critical incident response capacity in three incidents. Such things are I guess part of my job, but sometimes you are forced to ask the question what about what is called "Life after death"? A friend suspected I did not believe in it so I have to clarify it.
I was digging to find the end of a pipe recently, and found that it travelled quite some distance. An initial hole became a trench, as the pipe was much longer than I thought. That's what happens when you explore this question. As I dug into it it kept getting bigger. What is "Life"? Who am I as an individual? Can I say I am an "individual" or am I a whole host of people, communities and having an expansive history within me? So the questioning goes on, and it would take a book to explore all issues.
Let me say too, that I do not see that the whole point of Christianity is to get to heaven when I die and to avoid "hell". Christianity is about switching onto a quality and current of life NOW. What ever is after death, for me, is a sort of "by-product", part of that ongoing current.
History and our lifespan.
I love the picture of "history" that NZ author Michael King has in his autobiography. He passed it on from someone else. It goes something like this; History is like an ongoing conversation that is going on in a lounge or bar. It has been going on for some time. At some stage each of us joins the conversation. We listen. We ask questions. We join in and make contributions. We share in the dialogue and add our insights and stories. Then at some stage, it is true for each of us, we have to excuse ourselves and leave the room. We are gone, but the conversation continues and builds on what we have contributed and continues to evolve. The question we ask is, "Was my contribution helpful? Was it constructive? Did it add something to the conversation, did it enhance it or drag it down?" The continuing value of whatever we have shared is a part of what I see as "Life after death".
I am other people's "life after death", as others will be mine.
When I seek in my life to live a life following the values and purposes of "the sacred" (God) I am expressing in my life the same life that millions before me have expressed. As I seek to search for justice, I am participating and sharing in the same life that Amos, Isaiah, Micah, William Wilberforce, Dr Martin Luther King, Gandhi and others participated in. Part of their life force is in me. When I die there will be millions of others who will share the same life force and share the same current of life that I shared, in a very real sense, I will be part of them. When I seek to express unconditional love and generosity, I am part of the "life after death" of Jesus, the apostle of "Grace" Paul, Francis of Assisi, Father Damien, Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa etc. All these shared in the same current of life, have influenced me and are part of me. That life will continue in others long after I am gone and I will share their life, and in a real sense be part of their expressions of love. You see we ARE, in some ways, not individuals, we are a part of a current of life that is much bigger than our life span.
Ripples that don't stop
A part of this is the recognition that there are some things that we live for and do that are "eternal". There are things like Justice, Love, liberty, seek the wholeness of others etc that are of an eternal nature. The New Testament story of the cross and resurrection send this message. Love was not destroyed by death. The continuing energy of Christ in the early Church, the story and impact of the martyrs, the history of such things as the slave trade, aparthied, civil rights, all seem to suggest that ultimately good outlasts evil. Love outlast hate or indifference. To me the real power of life is "Love"... as Martin Luther King said, "It is the only power that can change enemies into friends". If I live for these eternal values then my life is never wasted and never stopped or lost.
When I was at school we learned that energy is never lost, it just changes or transforms into something else. The experiment was always with a bike pump. You pumped it, putting lots of energy into it in the form of movement. That energy changed into heat, which you could feel as you held the end of the pump. Love and justice are like that. Every loving act is never lost, it continues to make the world a better place in unseen ways. Like ripples when a stone is thrown into a pond, the ripples of my love shared continue to impact the world, long after I have gone. Sometimes we can express love inappropriately, we will make mistakes in how best to express it, but no concern for the well being of another is evil, it is part of that eternal stream of life. To me it is better to make a mistake loving than to live apathetically, refuse to get involved or stay aloof. Studdart Kennedy wrote, "I believe that evil dies, good lives on, loves on and conquers all." When I love, I live on long after my lifespan is finished. That is part of life after death for me.
Now if these were all that "life after death" was, I would rest easy and be content. Life has meaning. I am called to make my part of that ongoing conversation as loving, as constructive and as life enhancing as I can, and the impact of my contribution will continue, I will "live" long after I die. For me to live with the faith I have, the purposes I adhere to I do not need some "eternal reward in heaven" to motivate me. If this was all the Christian faith had to offer, I would still be a christian.
But.... I believe there is more... as I say a by product.
"Life after life here."
I believe that we share in the very life of God, the sacred one, that "layer of reality" in whom we "live and move and have our being" and who is "in everything and through everything". To the extent that we are open to the currents of love, we come closer and closer to living "in Him". In a real sense, the goal of life is to be in solidarity with other people, creation and the eternal. I believe that when we die, that union, that relationship is not finished, but continues and is now free to become an even closer union. Whilst I think we will maintain an identity, it will be less important to us, and we will be "with" the eternal, a part of the undergirding life of the universe. It is a dimension of reality we can catch glimpses and feelings of now, but will move on to "know" more fully.
I would refer you to a little book by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross called "On Life after death." Some of her book sounds wacky, but there is a lot of pretty solid evidence there and some really good insights. Kubler-Ross spent much of her life watching and sharing with people who were dying. She says that we are "Patterns of spiritual energy" and that upon death, we move on from our temporary homes. The essence of that energy is "love" and she shows how love meets us on "the other side." This is consistent with heaps of passages and pictures in scripture, and has a ring of authenticity for me. We are each special, unique individuals and as we participate in love, that energy is not dissipated, but joins with its source, and continues.... perhaps in some way to impact "life." So I do believe in life after death.... not golden streets, nor some sort of "reward", but a continuing relationship with the eternal one whose life giving love we have participated in here. As Paul wrote; "Nothing in all creation ... (not even death) can separate us from the love of God..."
Kubler-Ross says; "Death is but a transition from this life to another existence where there is no more pain or anguish. All the bitterness and disagreements will vanish, and the only thing that lives forever is LOVE. So love each other NOW...."
