(Full Transcript below)
As the culmination of a 6-week "Coming of Age" program at the UU church, a program which is usually afforded to 9th graders but was offered for the first time to adults at the church, Dad and ten others offered "statements of faith" before the congregation.
Dad's chosen topic was "Is there life after death?"
I missed Dad's first line, an ad-lib, which got a good laugh from the audience:
"What Happens After Death? I'm sure you'd all like to know."
*What Happens After Death?
That is a question that humans have been pondering since life began.
And it is indeed one of the most significant questions that I face. The multitude of responses that humankind has generated to that query over thousands and thousands of years speaks to the profound and continuing power of that question.
It's fair to say that death terrifies me perhaps more than anything else. That it will happen one day is a certainty.
So as I see this matter, humankind came up with the best answer to this awesome and real fear many years ago. To put it simply, the answer is known as GOD. But any definition of God always transcends the explanations we receive when we ask help on this matter.
The many religious forms that exist around the world cope with a wide range of answers to that question...with heaven and hell being the ones with which we are most familiar. We UUs do not know if there is an afterlife... I do not dwell on such an overwhelmingly difficult topic.
So the existence of hell, heaven or purgatory are not of concern to me...and are not in my vocabulary of beliefs. But I do respect the rights--and sometimes the needs--of you and others to hold to your own beliefs. And that includes calls for help with coping with deep meaningful matters...from whomever is available.
I for one appreciate the concept of eternal life....admitting and/or agreeing that the term has many definitions. For me,while eternal life is a most profound mystery, I very much appreciate the deep comfort this term gives to me. Pondering questions about death and the afterlife is one of the reasons I come to church and why I am speaking today.
I see myself--and all of us--as being on a spiritual journey. We will all come--sooner or later--face to face with death......and then we will know the ultimate TRUTH.*
