So, what is next?

What does it mean "to die"? I know, happy topic, but it's a question I have asked myself over the years, and in fact a question I have recently been asked to answer by one of my readers. I really first thought about this when my father died a few years back. And every so often, mostly after a family death, the question pops up again.

Certainly this is much to significant a topic to be covered in a short BLOG. But I have come to some conclusions about what I believe about death and life and will attempt to convey the gist of it.

What physically happens to you when you die is really not much under debate. In fact it is a personal choice what happens to your body. Cremation, burial etc.. But when your body is done, is that it?

In short, it is my belief that you die, they bury you and all that is left of you is what you may have left behind. The notion that a conscious soul rises to heaven or descends to hell just does not hold water with me. If I 'come back' as another being or object, it is only because my body contributed biologically or physically to the makeup of that organism or object.

BUT

I do believe every one has a soul that survives them... just perhaps not in the same way I was taught in Sunday school oh so many years ago.

First I have to define what is a 'sole'? A person's sole is the essence of that person; their belief's, their behaviors, their accomplishments, their defeats, their contributions and their liabilities. It is what make a person that specific person.

Again, I believe that once you are gone all that is left of you is what you leave behind; Not physical items so much as your influence. It is my belief, and honestly a basic element of my 'religion', that your soul will live on as defined by what influences you may have made in the lives of all those you have interacted with over your life time; Positive or negative.

A concrete, perhaps personal example would be fitting here to illustrate my point but as I am writing this I realize that my perception of any real person and their beliefs / actions will differ from others and I don't want that potential contradiction clouding my point. So for sake of illustration....

A man walks to work each day. He may not speak to a single person in route but passes many of the same people each day. One particular day, as he walks, he notices a burger wrapper on the sidewalk and, without thinking to much about it, reaches down to pick it up, places it in a trash bin and continues on his way. That same morning, a young girl, on her way to school notices a man picking up the trash she herself had just stepped over. The next day, on her way to school, the young girl picked up candy wrapper she saw on the street and threw it away.

The man had a positive influence on that young girl. This is a small example but that really is the point. A single large gesture or action, say donating $1000 to a local food bank, indeed can have a direct positive affect on large numbers of individuals but could go no further than a couple of meals for people in need. While a man picking up a piece of trash, theoretically, can grow exponentially. The girl's teacher may have seen her throw the candy wrapper away and praised her in front of her 5th grade class for doing so. Seven of those kids took it upon themselves to clean up the park that afternoon. The man walking his dog noticed that the park was clean and instead of throwing his Starbucks cup on the ground carried it back to his apartment and threw it in the trash there..... You just don't know.

Of course the example could easily have gone the other way. The man could have just stepped over the Burger wrapper on the sidewalk. The girl saw this and decided what is one more piece of trash and she subsequently threw her Pop-Tart wrapper down right next to it.....

What does this have to with a person's soul? That man's actions, in part, define his soul. And his actions influenced the actions of another. In effect, if that man was run down by a bus 2 blocks later, part of his soul will live on in that little girl.

Will that man be connonized for picking up the wrapper? Probably not. But those who knew him and interacted with him frequently also carries with them a part of his sole. The members of youth choir he directed will think of him fondly each Sunday as they sing the hymns he taught them. One of those students may go on to lead a youth choir and that mans sole will live on through those students. A high school football coach will see a player with strong work ethic and it will remind him of a similar player he coached 10 years ealier, who even then would pick up a gatorade cup and throw it away on the way back to the lockeroom. The grocery clerk who the man nods and smiles at each morning will, in a day or two notice the man has not passes. And realize he misses the kind gesture.

The man's soul is present in the lives of those he interacted with.

Pope John Paul II soul lives on through the many hundreds of thousands of Christians and non-Christians alike who his actions directly and indirectly influenced. Just as Adolph Hitler's soul does.

When it comes down to it no one knows what happens after death until it is to late (if then) so what really does it matter? In fact it does matter. Many religions seem to be based on living life in order to be prepared for the afterlife. I imagine this, like many aspects in modern and ancient religions, stem from human need to know that everything has a purpose, and that ultimately there are consequences for life's actions, good or bad. Everyone has to believe in something, if for no other reason than it provides a psychological crutch to help get through difficult times.

There you go, I just shared some of my soul with you.