During this past year I have lost three friends, my chiropractor, and my next-door neighbor. Yesterday, another friend was admitted to the hospital in critical condition.
Losing loved ones is hard. With each passing, our life experience is diminished and our hearts are left with one more hole that used to be filled with love for and connection to another Being.
Throughout human history, mankind has created just three theories to explain life and death. Every world religion and philosophy expresses one of these, either exactly or as a “variation on a theme.”
The first is that of the Materialist–one who believes that physical existence is the be-all and end-all to life. Man is the highest intelligence in the universe (really) and this intelligence is contained in the human brain. When the body dies, the brain dies, and that human being is no more.
The second is that we are souls, created at the moment of our physical birth, and meant to live-on as souls after the death of our flesh and blood bodies in the realm of spirit. Christians believe that, depending on how good or bad we have been during one lifetime, our souls will live-on in either a state of perpetual bliss (Heaven) or eternal punishment (Hell).
The third theory is that of Reincarnation. Inherent in this worldview is the belief that each soul is a unique expression of its Creator; and, once created, can transform but never die. If the free-will decision of a soul is to experience physical life, it will be given the opportunity to enter into many bodies and life-experiences in order to learn, grow, and express itself until a state of spiritual “Self-actualization” is reached. These cycles of rebirth will come to an end when we come to “Know ourselves to be ourselves and yet be one with God.” (Edgar Cayce) “Rewards” and “punishments” come by way of experiencing the effects of all we have caused through our free-willed thoughts, words, and deeds–our karma. Each will, eventually, attain re-union with God.
The consolation most of us cling to when losing a loved one is that we will be together again one day–in the Afterlife; or, in a future incarnation. Only the Materialist, who believes that when our one physical life ends, “That’s it,” must deal with the added burden of realizing he or she will never–ever–be with their spouse, child, or friend again.
If you know such a one, blanket them with compassion and hold them especially close during their time of grief.
