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Life After Life?
I enjoyed reading John Ward’s article in the January edition of Oscailt in which in his inimitable way he sets out the basis for his belief that there is no life after death. In terms of what we see happen to the physical body John’s argument is compelling. But I can’t help asking is that really it? John says no one has come back to tell us what happens beyond death but what about the many well documented instances of Near Death Experiences? And more importantly the unanswered “Why?” questions:
Why is John here?
Why am I here?
Why does anything exist?
Why are we each conscious of our own being?
I have a great interest in astronomy. When we look up at the night sky the stars we see with the naked eye are part of the Milky Way galaxy, said to comprise a thousand million suns, the Milky Way itself being only one of a thousand million galaxies in the known universe. The existence of anything raises a “Why?” question.
The immense scale of even the currently known universe raises a very big “Why?” indeed, not to mention the “Why?” of our intelligence and the “Why?” of our ability to try to explore and explain what we see around us. And what exactly is the very “emptiness” in which everything exists?
Like John, I cannot believe in an external human-like being that created and oversees this magnificence but whatever the fundamental nature of reality maybe I cannot accept that it is the result of the coming together of physical and energy particles by blind chance.
By definition “God” is infinite and therefore cannot be comprehended by finite beings such as we are. Just consider for a moment how little we know about so many lesser things (the difficulty of understanding the nature of climate change and of working out a solution to even that one problem being a case in point)
Notwithstanding my musings I have to admit that I will be as surprised as John if I manage to observe my own funeral from the great beyond and, like him, I have no idea how I would occupy myself in eternity (I hope God is fond of gadgets) But I could not dismiss the possibility of our survival considering we both exist in a world that suggests ever deepening realities way beyond what our eyes can see and beyond what our scientific instruments can measure.
Whatever way we look at it (and I believe there are as many ideas about God as there are people who have ever lived) we can at least be thankful for the fact of our existence we should encourage one another in the very difficult task of trying to mindfully live lives that are worthy of this astonishing gift.
The wonderful thing about the Unitarian community is that here people of many different persuasions come together to encourage one another in this exploration.
So, incomprehensible as he or she may be, dare I conclude by thanking God for the combination of circumstances that gave rise to my existence and led me here. I will leave the unknown and unknowable future in the hands of the same Providence and hope for the best.
Tony Brady
Dublin Unitarian Church January 2009
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