Do you believe in an afterlife?

[BlueStarryHat]

I struggle with it, to be very honest. I have had experiences that make me think, yes. I've seen a ghost, I've had a faith-based experience, I've heard stories from other people. But then there have been times, like really the whole of 2020 so far, that make me think nobody is in charge "up there." That we are beings of the Earth and will go back to that Earth someday...or in my case, into the box with my Mom's ashes.

I try to be kind to people. I try to do what I believe to be morally correct. But I have stopped practicing my religion and I don't know if I'll ever go back to it. I don't formally pray anymore- but I do 'talk' into the darkness at night sometimes. And someday I will die and either go into the void and be nothing (in which case I won't know a thing about it,) or I'll go into the white light and have some 'splainin' to do.

It really makes me sad, because my faith was *everything* to me, and now I feel it ebbing away and I don't even know if I want it back. It was comforting to me, the rituals and prayers and practices. But I took no more joy in doing them, started seeing them as a useless chore to be got through. It's been coming on slowly, this feeling. Years. But 2020 has kicked it into high gear. I don't begrudge ANYBODY their belief systems or faith. I don't look down upon or ridicule people for what they believe.

In fact, I'm jealous. That's where I am now.

 

[macraven]

Hugs...

 

[Pucks104]

2 of my sisters and I were gathered closely around my father at his end. We were at his home. Right at the moment he passed, his eyes opened in a look of surprise, a smile formed and he was gone. I believe he saw beloved others who had gone before. That belief comforted me as I grieved losing my Dad.

 

[NannyBeBe]

I was with my daddy when he died. Right before he passed, he sat up in bed and started waving and smiling; then he laid back down and breathed his last.

 

[Planogirl]

I believe in an afterlife and not because of organized religion.

 

[Tapdancenanna]

Yes. Thank you Jesus!

 

[StephMK]

I believe in heaven and an afterlife.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Thanks for all the responses so far.

 

[Mysterian]

I do not believe in an afterlife. I believe when we're gone, it's the same as it was before we were born.

 

[TippyThomas]

I believe in an afterlife but it's based on beliefs I have that are very unconventional.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Thanks to everyone keeping this thread civil and respectful.

 

[tasha99]

I believe there is an afterlife, but that our existence is less individual than when we are here with discrete bodies. I think our soul or essence goes back home, and "I" becomes more of a "we" if that makes any sense.

 

[LovesTimone]

I posted earlier and have been following along... I thought that I would share a bit more.

I know that when my grandfather passed away, he had really not said much anything for 2 or 3 days before... he told my Grandmother, that his brothers, and her brothers were there, and they were waiting on him...and kept asking her can you see them... in those 2 days, then he said to her, I have loved you my whole life, and will into the next one... I will see you again..and then closed his eyes and passed away... She said she felt a calm pass over her, joy that he was with family, and that he was no longer in pain...

When my granny passed away, I had been to visit her the day before... she had been getting everyone confused... When I walked in the room, she sat up and looked at me and started talking to me, she knew who I was... I was very close with my granny, she taught me alot of life lessons, how to cook, and sew... and set a example for me, that I looked up to... My mom was shocked, when she started talking to me... we talked for a couple of hours... Towards the end I knew she was getting tired...she told me when my mom walked out of the room, to get the nurse, that my granddaddy was there waiting for her, and her daughter ( my aunt - my mom sister who had passed away ) was there... and the rest of them... she said... she said looking up, she then started rubbing my arm, and she said I will be with you always, you will know that I am with you... You know your my favorite, now don't cry... I will be with you and see you again, but not for a long time... I love you... she passed the next night in her sleep... I woke up in the middle of the night and I knew she had passed... I could feel it.... I feel her with me all the time, I feel like she is talking to me, I can hear her voice, sometimes so clear I have to turn around and look around... at first it was kinda unnerving as I have never experienced something like this... now it is a great comfort...

 

[AndreaDM]

No. I was with my niece when she died at 13 from CF, there was nothing peaceful at the end, just her gasping to breathe and us administering morphine to make it less painful.

i was raised in a very religious home with the threat of damnation if I wasn’t good, and the promise of eternal reward if I was. It took years and a lot of soul searching to let go of that. I had always questioned in my mind as a child, but didn’t dare voice that.

 

[MommyinHonduras]

I clicked yes, because you put afterlife. I believe in the resurrection into physical bodies that will not experience death and the restoration of new heavens and a new earth.

 

[lucas]

Agree with that position, well, except for the Alien part. I'd still prefer.. dead is dead. For some reason whenever I think about after life all I can think about is my Mother watching me having relations. Even Clarence knew every move that George made and he wasn't even a relative. Course that could be why it took Clarence so long to get his wings. A little to much peeping.

I wonder about that. Can the deceased "see" everything we do?

 

[LovesTimone]

No. I was with my niece when she died at 13 from CF, there was nothing peaceful at the end, just her gasping to breathe and us administering morphine to make it less painful.

i was raised in a very religious home with the threat of damnation if I wasn’t good, and the promise of eternal reward if I was. It took years and a lot of soul searching to let go of that. I had always questioned in my mind as a child, but didn’t dare voice that.

I have a friend that her story is very close to yours, except it was her sister, that passed away. Her home life was really hard, her parents where beyond religious... I think that the word would be zealot...Her and her brothers were put into a home due to the physical, and mental abuse that the parents put them through. For a very long time she refused to even hear anything to do with religion or faith... One night she and her family were at Epcot during Christmas, and the Candlelight processional was about to start, and her kids wanted to watch... so she decide that they would do it, she said that if her kids were interested, it was only right that she allow them to explore... She said during the program, she realized that she could have a belief system, faith, and it did not have to painful, she said watching the people around them, smile and have so much joy, and singing... that it was like something clicking inside her.... she said she just let go , she was able to completely free herself from the trauma... and move in a direction that she wanted to go in...and find what she needed spiritually.

Please don't take this as I am saying you should go to church or anything... I just thought I would share her story with everyone...

 

[AndreaDM]

I don’t take it negatively at all, I don’t really have trauma from my parents beliefs, it’s more that I always viewed things from a scientific standpoint. I do love some of the aspects of the faith, the music, the togetherness, being kind & charitable, etc., I just don’t “believe”.

 

[LSUmiss]

No. I was with my niece when she died at 13 from CF, there was nothing peaceful at the end, just her gasping to breathe and us administering morphine to make it less painful.

i was raised in a very religious home with the threat of damnation if I wasn’t good, and the promise of eternal reward if I was. It took years and a lot of soul searching to let go of that. I had always questioned in my mind as a child, but didn’t dare voice that.

Same here. My dad died a pretty harrowing death from pancreatic cancer just 3 weeks after diagnosis. Nothing peaceful about it at all. And, there was no one who had gone before him who he loved more than my sister & I so it’s not like he’s in a “better place” now. So basically it just sucks.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Thanks for the responses so far.