Life after death?

What happens to us when we die? Do souls exist? Does Heaven and Hell exist? Are we reincarnated? These are all questions I’ve never been able to answer… I still can’t answer them! I guess this is why people have “beliefs.” Interestingly enough, my beliefs today do not resemble the beliefs I had several years ago. My family isn’t very religious. That being said, I hope my mom doesn’t read this – she probably won’t like what I’m about to say. I grew up “Christian.” For me, growing up Christian was appropriate because (A) most people I knew were Christian and I wanted to fit in, (B) I didn’t want to go to Hell, and (C) I wanted Christmas presents! Before I upset too many of my family members, I’m NOT an atheist. I believe there is some God or Supreme Being(s) guiding our world, but, in almost 25 years, I have yet to experience anything that absolutely proves the existence (or non-existence) of a specific God.

I do have a problem with the whole church-going thing. I’ve attended some churches that seem to base a person’s faith on the amount of money they donate to the church. Yes, churches need donations in order to provide services, but, I’ve experienced and heard of several churches that seem to maintain a correlation between the donator’s faith and the amount donated. Furthermore, I hate the “believer vs. non-believer” sermon. Baptist churches often claim that only Baptists will make it to Heaven. Methodist churches often claim that only Methodists will make it to Heaven. Protestant churches often claim that only Protestants will make it to Heaven, etc. Let’s look at Jack and Jane. Jack was a kind, loving, giving man who never ever sinned (impossible, but this is hypothetical). Jack didn’t believe in God. After saving countless lives and finding a cure for cancer, Jack died at age 80. Jane, on the other hand, was a horrible person. For fun, she killed thousands of pet kittens and puppies. When Jane was on her death bed, she had a revelation. She suddenly realized that it was bad to kill kittens and puppies. She prayed to God for forgiveness and dedicated the rest of her life to serving the lord. She died two days later. According to the Bible, who made it to Heaven? I’m not religious (so I could be wrong), but from what I understand of most religions, Jill would’ve been the best candidate. This just doesn't seem "right."

So, what happens when we die? I began writing this blog several hours ago and stopped for awhile due to a few distractions. Unfortunately, I lost most of my motivation (I’m tired). I had a great conversation with my new roommate (long story) and am definitely feeling out my metaphysical side, if you will. The conversation came about because I told Cindy (the new roomie) that I wanted to take Mushko to a Reiki animal specialist. For those of you who don’t know (I didn’t until recently), Reiki is a form of spiritual practice used as a complementary therapy for the treatment of physical, emotional, and mental diseases (Wikipedia). From what I understand, Reiki taps into energy and karma. It’s a little crazy but the more I think about these sorts of things, the more they make sense. Anyway, a local Reiki dog specialist offers services through my work – that’s how I heard about all of this. Come to find out, Cindy happens to be a Reiki master! She offered to Reiki both Mushko and me! We ended up having a long conversation about metaphysics, reincarnation, Buddhism, etc. We have one rare thing in common; we’re both irrationally afraid of being the victim of a shark attack. Cindy said something that resonated so well with me, it literally gave me chills! She speculated that she could’ve been a dolphin or fish in her previous life. If so, maybe her last living moment was the moment in which a shark attacked and ate her. I know, it sounds a little crazy. Still, I can’t count how many times I’ve dreamt of shark attacks. Maybe I too was eaten by a shark in a previous life? Who knows!? Go ahead, call me crazy. I’m going to “keep my ears open,” as Andrea would say, and we’ll see what kind of other crazy things I come up with!