Life After Death

What if there was no life after death? Where do our spirits travel, as our bodies decompose seamlessly into the ground?

Some say the soul traverses a purgatory, a purifying path for all entities to wash away their earthly sins. Others adopt a less religious view and simply state that the soul travels nowhere, and that we simply stop living after death. As frightening as that last thought might seem, what exactly do we live for today?

Given that human are granted one life to live, how do we know how to approach it? How do we choose our paths if everything we live for ceases the moment we part with life?

Is it enough to remember that we have lived or should we live to be remembered? Most people spend years of their lives building legacies, only to be washed away and forgotten shortly after their death.

In truth, it is easy to make a living: money, hard work and ambition are but a few ingredients of the recipe of success. But are they enough to make a life? When we stand on the holy arch, gazing between the stars, how do we see our life? How do we measure our accomplishments? And how do we judge ourselves?

There are very few lasting things in life. Love is one of them. And until the moment we die, love is the bond that keeps us intact with our world; it offers us an insight of what our lives have truly been. The people we have met, the people we have touched, but also the people we have hurt along the way. Love binds them all.

And at that moment, as we inhale to take in our last breath, we fill a chill coming down our spine. Love exits the body, leaving the soul inanimate. We are dismantled from every feeling, every touch, every whisper and every tear shed. But while we slowly fade into the shadows, we forget the hatred we left behind us. All that remains is the kind memory of joy, laughter and love.

Love is a strange phenomenon. It has the ability to rekindle a memory, to nurture it and to grant it life through someone else’s eyes. We spend our lives looking into mirrors, staring down at our own reflection, waving at the portrait of our fallen fathers. Where would they be now? Would they be watching over us? 

Would they be gently lending a helping hand in times of need?

For if there was a heaven, it wouldn't grant me the comfort I sought. If heaven existed, it couldn't bring back to me the lives of those I held dearest to my heart. For death alone is not the only taker of souls. Life too plays its part when a familiar figure that you once knew, like the blank pages of an open book suddenly becomes a stranger of the night, wandering the city streets alone and lost.

If there was a heaven, then it couldn't guarantee me life after death. If heaven existed, then it wouldn't help me understand life and death. And if heaven truly existed, then it still couldn't provide me the comfort of loving and being loved.

In our minds, we are bounded by life. Our path follows a timescale that is deemed to end someday. A frightening thought unmatched by any except the notion of love. For love is infinite and it will always prevail.

And if there was a heaven, then love would surely fill it. For what more fitting than a loving place, where the music meets its melody, for the resting of one’s soul?

To all the broken souls that have lost faith in the power of love, believe in its magic. Search the lands and fields alike in order to find it. Embrace it. For he who doubts the untapped power of love has yet to live life at its fullest. And if anything, we are nothing but survivors of this life, and each day we embark on a new cycle, carving out our paths, hoping to make a name for ourselves, forgetting to live as we strive to make a living.

Chime the mourning bells as we gather not to mourn death, but rather life. For those who have lived to love and loved to live shall forever be cherished and remembered within our hearts. As for those who grew tired of life, questioning the arts and the music and the books, they are worth crying for. As those have died before they have lived. And all that will be remembered will be a crisp whisper in the sand, crying out for forgiveness and a chance for another life for the dead living.

    

Reviews

[Solilokiss]

Wow. I read that as though I was one of millions standing before you while you stood on a podium reciting this deeply profound speech! This is great, Watcher. I like to think that once our time here on Earth is through, there is a Love that is beyond any love we have experienced on Earth. When I die, I hope to discover all that is, the mystery, the secrets, the love that is. How inspiring you are!

[WatcherInSilence]

Thank you my friend, these are the thoughts that truly make us stand out as human beings...the ability to love endlessly, to give and sacrifice for this love carry us through life as we know it.
Your kind review is much appreciated!