During a pleasant dinner conversation with family members who are in the same over-60 category I noted that earlier in life we might have commented "life is too short to...." Now we're of the age when life really is too short to do those things which are tedious and not life-giving. We may also be wondering a little more about whether there is a life to come and what that may entail. As a Christian and a retired pastor I always affirmed eternal life, which is our gift through the mystery of the incarnation we are celebrating in the Christmas season. We are already looking ahead to power of cross and resurrection.
It's odd though that when I was a teen my Christian faith seemed to be more focussed on the afterlife than it is now. Over the years I saw that there were plenty of "pie in the sky" Christians who just didn't seem to be able to savour the gift of this life and were often quite certain that they knew who was going to make it to either heaven or hell. Remember hell? We almost never talk about that aspect of the afterlife in mainline churches anymore, myself included. In part its because I figure that divine judgement is up to God, not me. And the notions of heaven and hell, with a side order of purgatory, have taken on an elaborate life of their own (pun intended) which are often just not biblical.
Fragments from the Book of Two Ways
I was intrigued by a New York Times article about the discovery of an ancient Egyptian guide to the afterlife called The Book of Two Ways. Here is a description:
The two journeys were a kind of purgatorial odyssey reminiscent of Dungeons & Dragons: extraordinarily arduous, and so fraught with peril that they necessitated mortuary guidebooks like “The Book of Two Ways” to accompany a person’s spirit and ensure its safe passage. (The “two ways” refer to the options a soul had for navigating the Underworld: one by land, the other by water.) Among other annoyances, the deceased had to contend with demons, scorching fire and armed doorkeepers, who protected the dead body of Osiris against gods bent on preventing his rebirth, according to Harco Willems, an Egyptologist at the University of Leuven in Belgium. Success in the afterlife required an aptitude for arcane theology, a command of potent resurrection spells and incantations and a knowledge of the names not just of Underworld doorkeepers but also of door bolts and floorboards.
As fascinating and bizarre as this may sound, there is a resonance with the florid afterlife theology of some fundamentalist Christians I've encountered through the years.
The Book of Two Ways is a reminder that humans have sensed that there is more than this life for millennia. This curiosity and speculation and yearning is part of what it means to be human. For me is a reassurance of resurrection life rather than an obsession or fear of eternal torment.
Comment away!
The Apostles' Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Harrowing of Hell -- Hieronymus Bosch
I have always believed in an afterlife, but have never gotten a grasp on what it may be like - harps and crowns are not my thing, but music and bells and meeting kindred spirits who have pre-deceased me will be a good thing ! I do know that the God who created me and has sustained me all through this life will be there to take me over when my time comes, to place that has been prepared for me. "In life, in death, in life beyond death...."
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