the Great Beyond

the Great Beyond So it's Christmas day 2007. It is sunny, the fire is still going from last night ( I know, spare the air.. but it is a Holiday) It's odd not opening presents first thing, but it's quiet, except for Patti Labelle singing in the Disney Christmas Day parade on the TV. So we'll do it later when everyone can get together this evening for dinner.So lately I've been thinking more and more about our mortality. We go about life, busy, doing our daily routine, whatever that may be. And we think little about where we are headed in the grand scheme of things. We plan for the future, retirement, graduation, fishing trips this coming summer and so on. But somehow we ignore for the most part our final day on this planet. At least that part of us that we call the soul. Who was it that said "I am not my body, but my body is mine" ? Something I remeber from Philosophy 101. We will leave behind the mortal and ... we will put on the immortal, if that's what you believe. And that's what prompts me to consider what will happen to us after we pass from life to death. Maybe it's because having past the age of 50, I realize how short my time is from here on out. Yeah, maybe I'll live another 35 years or so, but I'll probably be dead for a lot longer period of time. Now, some folks believe we are transported immediately to paradise, the heaven spoken of in the bible, but I'm not so sure. I think we have to wait for resurrection by the One who made us. But whatever, you won't know for sure til it happens to you.I have been looking for a book that talks about death. It's really not a topic we like to discuss. Even when we go to funerals, we usually reminiece about the persons life, about the things they did while living, their legacy. And living is what we like to think about. But for all of us, there will be someone we know who will pass away before us. Usually it is our older relatives, but occasionally, one of our peers may go. We are surrounded by sickness, accidents, war, and criminal acts of murder.I had relatives that passed on, but it wasn't until one of my closests friends died that it really set in that we are mortal. He died in a car accident, an alcohol related mistake really, but end result was the loss of a nineteen year old youth. It was really painful, especially for his family, but of us , his friends grieved mournfully. I had been going through some changes in my world view, but that helped to cement my longings for life. None of us really wants to die, I think the body goes kicking and screaming on the inside perhaps, although death may be welcome for those suffering from illness or those so old they are tired of living in a worn out shell, just a hint of their former youthful selves. And that'swere we'd like to remain perhaps, somewhere between 20 something and 30ish I'd say, in the prime years of life.So I went looking for books on the subject, but none really addressed the notion of living without thought for what might happen. I specifically mean those in their youth, thinking that thay will live forever. I and I do believe that we can live forever, but that is a topic for a later post. So I looked for a book , but found only one I trust, the Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. It's an allegory of a persons journey from the world of the living to the great beyond and back. In it he addresses our thoughts on living and so that will say much of what I want to convey. Perhaps someone will write a book just for those who would not normally consider their mortality. So to my three sons, Merry Christmas, and the reason that the Christ child came was to break the bondage all humanity is under, namely the power of death, to which we all are enslaved. Death and taxes are two sure things in life. Someday we will be free from both but we can be free from the fear of death right now, for sure. Love Dad , (not Gerge)