The "Perspectives On The Afterlife" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Hanging some lighted icicles along the front of our garage to brighten the place in anticipation of the Christmas holiday.  When I finished I needed a few large staples or clips to hold the electric cord against the side of our garage door opening.  

A memory from my dad.

Found the bottle of staples that I brought home with me when my father died eight years ago and I had to clean up his basement work area.  The bottle is one of the few items that I still have that are a reminder of my dad.  Another vivid memory is of my dad as he lay in his bed at the retirement community known as Moravian Manor with a young man by his side talking with him.  That young man, who was about 50 years my dad's junior, was Rev. Tom Purdy who was a member at St. James Episcopal church where we all were members.  Tom was summoned to dad's bedside and as I listened from the hallway, I heard my dad ask Tom what he could expect to happen when he died.  My dad, as well as all of his family, were Christians and he was anxious as to what he could expect in the very near future. Tom talked to dad about the Bible verse, John 3:16.  The verse from the New Testament tells you that "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believed in him shall not perish, but have eternal life."  The "eternal life" to which the verse refers is the Christian version of heaven, a good place populated by God, his angels and the souls of the faithful.  Those that believe that Jesus is the one, true God, ascent to heaven after they die; the souls of those who do not believe are cast into the Christian version of hell; a fiery pit of despair.  Dad wanted to know if his brother, who died in an automobile accident when dad was only six, would be there waiting for him.  Some of what Rev. Purdy was telling dad was hard to hear from a distance, but I'm sure dad was happy with the response for after Tom left, I went back in his room and he had this peaceful look about him.  Wasn't long after that he died with mom, who was also a resident at Moravian Manor in Lititz, Pennsylvania, by his side.  Shortly after, I received a call and before long I was with her as we sat next to dad.   So, what do you think happens to you when you die?  I recently read an article that tries to explain what the four main religions: Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism believe happens to you when you die.   A few other items that some Christians believe is that you have to be baptized  before you can reach heaven and that after death a soul must wait in an intermediary space, known as purgatory, for purification before traveling on to heaven. Some Christians also believe in the reincarnation of your soul in another body.  As far as Judaism, one local rabbi in Lancaster, says that many are content with the knowledge that they are not going to know until they get there, if there's a "there" (heaven) to which they ascend.  Some Jews contend that a Messiah is coming, and that the dead will be resurrected and stand in judgement before the Messiah in Jerusalem.  Islam conceives of life as a proving ground for the afterlife and anyone who has done an atom's weight of ill will also face its consequences.  Upon death the soul leaves the body and experiences an intermediary processional of reward and punishment before a final judgment day.  Buddhism focuses on compassion and composure in life.  With respect to death, the standard terminology doesn't really apply to Buddhism.  Instead, Buddhists believe in the immortality of the mind.  Instead of an afterlife, the belief is in the perpetual refinement of the mind across time in a continuous series of lives.  Will any of us ever be immortal?  Will we ever know until it happens?  No matter what religion we believe in or if we may be an athiest, death is inevitable.  And, will we all spend it the same way?  Are these questions for another lifetime?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.