Where Do You Find the Answer to Life After Death?
BY ROGER C. BONE, MD, Reprinted with permission.
There are dozens if not hundreds of suppositions on what happens after we die. For a great number of people, nothing happens. End of story. For others it is a time of waiting to be born in another body, to continue the karma begun long in the past. Then there are the Christian, Jewish, Islamic, and other similar ideas of a "place" where one will reside with a supreme being. Unfortunately, there are countless who believe so strongly in their point of view that they are willing to destroy anyone who doesn't agree with their interpretation of something they have not actually witnessed themselves
The article below comes from Reflections: A Guide to End of Life Issues for You and Your Family, distributed by the National Kidney Cancer Association and was titled "The Last Chapter — Life After Death." In presenting this piece we are not trying to promote the author's Christian beliefs, but include it in this section of Support 4 Change because it offers a thoughtful reflection on mankind's struggle with this age-old dilemma. It is informative to know how great minds have contemplated the topic of life after death.
In the end, one is left with the eerie thought of death's aftermath. Obviously, the world will continue with little or no change except for those who loved me. Mercifully, the memory of my dying and the pain associated with it will fade. Hopefully, they will remember the good times and my love for them.
Then, I am left to ponder what happens to me. Obviously, I do not know the answer. I can only hope and pray that what I have read of the visions of Great Writers is true. I know one thing: it will not be painful. I have a "power of attorney" and my wife Rosemary knows what to do. I have followed my own suggestions as outlined in earlier chapters. When the end comes, I will be sedated and given pain relief if any is needed. In this way, actual death is taken care of.
But, what happens to me after that? Again, I don't know. However, I have faith in God and eternal life. During my youth and middle-age, I was always "too busy" for God. I used the image and reputation of the evangelist as an excuse for my attitude. How could so many of them beg and steal money from the poor? How could God permit such an injustice? I now realize that God is not responsible for this injustice, man is.
I pray for forgiveness for the wrongs I have done in my life and hope to be forgiven. Because God is love.
Since I am saved, I come back to my original question. What will happen to me after death? I still have no answer. What have the great writers and true visionaries of the world conveyed?
I have looked and this is what I have learned. In The Divine Comedy, Dante and Virgil visit paradise. There, the feeling of love is portrayed through the image of light. This interpretation is pretty vague.
In Goethe's Faust, Faust is forgiven by God after a terrible life and is welcomed by a mystical being who leads him back to grace. What does this mean?
Hemingway, in For Whom the Bell Tolls, expresses the concept that death does not denote defeat. Again, no answer.
Hemingway re-examines this issue in one of his final books, The Old Man and the Sea. The Cuban fisherman, Santiago, struggles with the forces of death and emerges victorious. Although exhausted and beaten, he proclaims, "A man can be destroyed but not defeated." The book can be interpreted as Christian allegory: Santiago is the Christ figure who, through his epic battle with the sea, teaches the boy about faith and perseverance.
In The Tempest, Shakespeare philosophizes that life is much like the illusion of a stage play. Prospero shows mercy toward those who have harmed him. Again, no answer.
The description of the character Beth in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women is one of literature's few accounts of the death experience:
Seldom except in books do the dying utter memorable words, see visions, or depart with beatified countenance, and those who have sped many parting souls know that to most the end comes as naturally and simply as sleep. As Beth had hoped, the "tide went out easily," and in the dark hour before the dawn, on the bosom where she had drawn her first breath, she quietly drew her last, with no farewell but one loving look, one little sigh.
With tears and prayers and tender hands, mother and sisters made her ready for the long sleep that pain would never mar again, seeing with grateful eyes the beautiful serenity that soon replaced the pathetic patience that had wrung their hearts so long, and feeling with reverent joy that to their darling, death was a benignant angel, not a phantom full of dread.
While this passage brings me closer, I am still not satisfied.
In my favorite work of literature, Our Town by Thornton Wilder, the playwright creates a contemporary drama about ordinary people in the small town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. The themes of Acts I, II, III are birth, marriage, and death respectively. Act I depicts the childhood of the main characters and in Act II we see them marry. Emily dies prematurely during childbirth in Act III and returns afterwards to observe her family. In desperation, she states: "They don't — understand — do they?"
Wilder's theme is that life ends quickly and often without warning. Since our time here is short, we need to take the time to smell the roses. People are often blind to the everyday wonders of life. The stage manager, who serves as the play's narrator, tells the audience near the conclusion that they are residents of this little star, "the earth," and are struggling to reach their potential. Although this concept is touching, it still does not provide an answer.
In Walden, Henry David Thoreau shows us how to seek serenity and fulfillment. He goes to Walden Pond to search for his own soul. There, he is able to live freely and uncommitted. He leaves the woods after he achieves unity with nature and its creations. He states that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." His book is a gift to mankind. However, it still does not contain the answer.
In viewing the classics, I am struck by their beauty; however, I am also struck by the fact that they largely have life as their subject — not life after death.
One ends by going to the Bible. In it, the faithful are promised eternal life. I do not need to know more. My search is complete. I have the answer.
©1997, National Kidney Cancer Association |
