The End May Be Just The Beginning
What is worth having
faith in? Earlier we said if your existence ends with the death of your body it
is virtually inconceivable that life has any meaning at all. We believe that your existence has
meaning only if you continue to exist in some form or fashion after the death
of your body. So it seems imperative, if there is to be any reason and purpose
to your life, that you prove or believe or have faith
in an existence beyond the grave. Since it looks like no one can prove they
continue to exist after death, the question is whether or not you choose to
believe you do. Yet existence beyond the grave lies so far beyond human
perception and observation, beyond human comprehension and understanding, that
human feelings about such existence are inadequate to base substantial beliefs
on.
Then is this a matter
you should have faith in? Your answer to that question, if it is to be more
than a casual one which will not last, must be based on what you believe life
is "all about", not only after death but also right now. If you are
to have faith in a life after death you need to believe people are more than
biologic creatures. To be worth having faith in, to be worth wanting, life
beyond the grave must be more than just existing through time. It must offer a
hope of something worth living for, of "goodness", perhaps of joy.
We may imagine many
different things about life beyond the grave. We may believe in a metaphysical
extension of life, somehow self-perpetuating and dependent only on a communion
of some sort of mental energy unique to human beings. We may believe in
reincarnation, whereby forms change but human beings never die. There is no
limit to what we may believe life after death will be like. As we have said, no
one can prove us wrong, or right.
Speculation about the
"physical" nature of life after death can be little more than
guesses, and offers little help in making a decision whether or not we would
want to live in such a world. If we are more than our physical selves it would
seem that there must be more to look forward to in a life after death than the
"physical" aspects of that life. We need to find out if there is
something beyond the physical that every human must do if they want to be more
than worthless travelers in time.
While we cannot say
that it is “objectively” likely or unlikely, if you continue to exist after
physical death does it not seem "intuitively” likely you will retain the
intellect and capacity for rational thought we have postulated is essential to
your uniqueness? The intuitive answer is that it is indeed likely rational
intellectual thought will exist in a world beyond the physical. It seems that
if you are to remain you, the unique intellect which is a fundamental part of
your existence in your present life would continue to exist in the next.
Furthermore, it seems intuitively likely that rational thought beyond the
constraints of earthly boundaries would be of a much greater character.
If we survive the
grave does it not seem intuitively likely that the most positive aspects of our
life on earth will also be positive features of the world after death? In
looking for a reason to believe in an extension of life beyond the grave that
is worth living for, and thus worth having faith in, you must look at this
world and this life. Life on earth is the only basis we have on which to
project what a world beyond the grave might be like. You must find the most
positive aspects of this life, you must find in this life a reason to believe
life has meaning and purpose. Perhaps you will find “good” in this life that
gives you a reason to believe, or have faith, that there is a life after death
filled with "joy". To help you choose what to believe about life, now
and beyond the grave, we need to explore our present lives. We need to consider
not only the "physical", but also the "non-physical"
aspects of our present existence.
If and when you
understand life, and know what your life could be like both now and after
death, you will be able to choose whether or not you want to have faith that
there is something worth living for now and after death. You may choose to have
faith that your life has meaning and purpose. You may find that you want to
have faith your life will not end at the grave. You may choose to live the kind
of life now you hope you will live after death. In the rest of these notes, we
will be considering whether there is "good" in this life that makes
it worth having faith in a life after death.
If we do continue to
exist after our physical deaths, then each moment of our lives, both before and
after death, may have meaning and purpose. If we survive death then each of us
has been, is, and will continue to be a unique being. What then is the meaning
and purpose of life? What should, or must, you do? What choices do you have
right now?
Many philosophers,
psychiatrists, and others, argue persuasively that self-satisfaction is the
most important human goal. A society made up of individuals who maximize their own
well being is a society at its best. They conclude that when each of us reaches
our own point of maximum pleasure, all of us benefit. What constitutes the
maximization of pleasure is a hotly debated question, answered in countless,
totally different ways. Ideas range from doing anything that makes you feel
"good", to espousing intense dedication to such diverse things as
political causes, meditation, or simply the pursuit of pleasure.
Many suggest the free
market works well in selecting what is worthwhile in life, with various methods
of providing pleasure coming and going as demand identifies, supplies, and
satisfies needs. Others argue the best society is made up of family groups that
seek to maximize the family's happiness. Some extend the group to include
friends and even strangers, but often exclude those outside the group's
geographic and social spheres. Volume after volume after volume has been
written describing what various people believe life is all about. Multitudes of
people have dedicated large parts of their lives to convincing others of the
truth of their ideas and the wisdom of following their examples.
Instead of closely
examining and eliminating one at a time what I believe to be the fallacies and
follies of humankind, I will suggest to you what many believe life is all
about. If you choose to know and understand what is said, I believe you will
discover what is true and gives meaning and purpose to life. We are about to
look for something in life worth living for, something to have faith in.
What many suggest is
worth living for is love. Not what we often call love, but that which is the
most profound of human experiences.