Life after death

Submitted by John Stevenson

Is this life all there is? Are we working for something or towards a greater purpose after our physical body dies? Is there a spiritual part of us that continues into another reality? Almost every culture has its own belief as to what or where we go when we die. Can we be sure of what awaits us at the end of this journey we call life? Or is this all there is. We wake up every day, get ready for work or do our usual morning routine and prepare for another day. What is it that wakes us up every morning and moves us to engage in another day of life.

June 29th, 2005 a day that will always have my heart and sometimes wakes me from a sound sleep. At 6PM the Hospice nurse stated "she is in her last moments and it won’t be very much longer." My three sisters, their spouses, my wife and I gathered closer around my mother. We waited and watched as the woman who had given birth to me, raised me and was there when I needed help, was losing her final battle with cancer. My mom and I had many conversations as to what will happen to her when she dies. With the diagnoses of her cancer already at stage four, she knew that her stay on this earth was almost over. On some days mom and I would talk for hours on the phone about what we believe and what the afterlife will be like.

As a Christian, I am taught through the Bible that when we die our spirit passes on to another place. The Bible states that through our choices in reaction to what we read in its various chapters and what we do with this information, greatly influences where we will spend "Eternity," as they call it. My beliefs about this eternity are very strong. I share them with others both in and out of our local prison. My mother taught me how to use the writings in the bible as a ruler to better my life. So, I have come to believe that we will have life after death, and we actually choose where we will be spending it. My beliefs as to what happens to us when we die may not be yours and I am not open for arguing about who is right or wrong. But, as I held my mother's hand and watched as her breathing became more labored and slowed. I reflected back to our many conversations about this day. Finally at 6:59 pm with one final deep breath, mom was gone.

I remember talking to an acquaintance of mine and how he doesn't believe there is any kind of life after we die. He (Mike) many times would actually try and pull me into an argument with him about my beliefs and sometimes angrily shout at me as to how I could possibly think there is consciousness after our body expires. I heard once that there are no atheists in fox holes, or when in a submarine even the most out-spoken non believers will drop to their knees and cry out to God when the depth chargers explode right outside of their vessel. Mike had a fox hole experience, he suffered from a severe stroke, and was hospitalized for a few weeks until he was able to walk on his own. He has almost fully recovered, and still says he maintains his position of no life after death.

He did, however, mellow on his attacks on me for what I believed. I had invited him to a picnic and he confided in me that although he still didn’t believe, he did however now admire me for my beliefs because I was the only person who visited him when he was hospitalized. He said it gave him hope.

Hope! Hope is what I had as I watched my mom take her last breath. Hope is what I have and try to offer when I enter into the prison and look into the eyes of so many men, young and old, looking for something to get them out of bed to start the next day. Hope is what drives me to continue on with the expectations of seeing my mother again someday. They say that I am part of the human race, Racing from? Or are we racing towards something?

What is it that drives you to get up in the morning? We all have responsibilities we must attend to during the day. Some of us go to work, some take care of the house and the kids and others may be assigned to their beds or be in places they wish they weren't. But, we all get up for some reason or another, hoping that our labors are not done in vain. It’s not my position to tell you what to believe. But, if there is nothing to hope for after we die, then why do we try so hard at life? My hope is to feel my mom’s arm around me again, to see all those that have passed and one day hear the voice of the Father say "Well done my good and faithful servant."

Submitted by John Stevenson on November 30^th, 2010