At almost every
Funeral I’ve attended, the most common condolence expressed is, “He/she is now
in a better place.” I have often wondered what this expression is meant to
convey. Does it express relief that the departed is now immune to whatever pain
and suffering this life has to offer? Or, does the expression imply that the
spirit of the departed has gone to a heavenly reward?
The following
text expresses a time when the departed will enter into a heavenly realm:
By the word of the
Lord, we declare to you that we who are alive and remain until the coming of
the Lord will by no means precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself
will descend from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and
with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will be the first to rise. After
that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the
clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.…
1 Thessalonians 4:15-17
Life after death is a concept that has
evolved from legends, myths and folk lore, through oral traditions of many cultures.
Early humans had no concept of a heaven described by today’s Western Religions.
One early concept of life after death consisted of the spirit of a departed tribal
member entering into an animal that reflected the departed’s personality in
life. The bravest human spirits would enter the fiercest animals such as lions,
bears, bulls, eagles, etc., whereas lesser human spirits would join less
threatening animals such as small mammals, birds, butterflies, etc. The
occupation of human spirits in animals would last only as long as the animal
lived. When the animal occupied by a human spirit died, the human spirit was
released to become trees, stars, rains, storms, or any of the many natural
environmental objects and conditions that humans revered.
The Jewish culture,
from which Christianity has originated, had no canonical tradition of a reward
based afterlife. The incentive to live a righteous life was motivated by the
desire to remain obedient to the God they honored and worshiped in return for
his protection. Altar sacrifices were practiced for a wide range of purposes,
such as gifts to God as a blessing, or atonement for the transgression of
disobedience. The type of sacrifice to be offered was specified for each
purpose ranging from grains of wheat, baked goods, animal entrails, birds, or flock
animals (cattle, sheep, goats, etc.)
Christians developed
their concept of an afterlife during the 1st century CE, and was
based on legends surrounding the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth, alleged
to be the Son of God. When the “Jesus Followers” broke away from their Jewish
roots, they made a transition from making sacrifices on an altar in “THE”
Temple for atonement of transgressions, to the sacrifice of a human, Jesus, on
a cross to atone for the “sin” of being human which was allegedly inherited
from Adam. The incentive for believing this story was the philosophy of a
reward in an afterlife. With the “Belief Key” you would enter an idyllic
paradise in an afterlife, without this “Key” your spirit would be banished to
the punishment of an eternal Hades.
The theories of
an afterlife and its description have taken many forms over the centuries, from
no concept of an afterlife, to the concept of an eternal place where only
Christians may enter, with streets paved with gold where residents live in
mansions sized by the measure of the departed’s obedience and devotion during
their life on earth. The Islamic description of an afterlife reward is similar.
The difference being, only Muslim Believers may enter a paradise that is
an eternal garden of physical pleasures and spiritual delights. Suffering
will be absent and bodily desires will be satisfied. All wishes will be
met. Palaces, servants, riches, streams of wine, milk and honey, pleasant
fragrances, soothing voices, pure partners for intimacy; a person will never
get bored or have enough!
These philosophies
provoke a question concerning animal’s knowledge or thoughts about an
afterlife. Do Chimpanzees, Wolves, Elephants, Whales, domestic pets, etc. have
any concept of an afterlife? Or do they live in the moment by instinct and
opportunity? There doesn’t seem to be an overwhelming evidence that animals
have a concept of an afterlife, although some pet burials might indicate
otherwise.
According to the
history of mankind, the earliest break with our animal ancestors branch of the evolutionary
tree occurred approximately 8 million years ago. There is further evidence of
bi-pedal Hominid existence and tool making as recent as 2.8 million years ago.
Assuming animals do not have a concept of an afterlife, it would be appropriate
to surmise that our earliest Human ancestors had no concept of an afterlife
either. These concepts seemed to develop as early humans began to develop an
increase in social interaction and coalesced into the seeds of early cultures.
As man’s
knowledge of his world increased, he began to overcome his primal fears of
“natural events”, i.e.; earthquakes, volcanos, tsunamis, lighting storms, etc. by
reasoning these super-natural events were somehow being controlled by invisible
forces which were given names such as, Aphrodite, Apollo, Ares, Hades,
Poseidon, Zeus, Fire, Volcano, etc. Gods that could be useful or destructive to
humans, who lived in elevated realms in the sky, on top of mountains, or deep
in the sea or earth.
A proscribed
behavior became a standard as humans attempted to appease the Gods which often threatened
human existence. If humans behaved in ways proscribed by Medicine Men, Witch
Doctors, or Shaman, it was supposed to please the Gods. If any proscribed
behavior was violated, the Gods became displeased and punished the humans with
some natural event. When this happened, the guilty party(s) had to ferreted out
and made to pay for their transgression, sometimes with their life, or the life
of someone else if the guilty party was not identified.
Today, our
knowledge of the universe and its properties present us with a new set of
concepts of how eternity is defined. This is based on the common building
material throughout the cosmos – Atoms. The entire universe is made up of
approximately 118 types of atoms. These atoms behave and are controlled by a
common set of physical laws. All atoms were produced in the Big Bang or in
subsequent explosions of mega giant-stars. Consequently, these atoms have
existed for billions of years. Every galaxy, solar system, and planet is made
up of atoms that are billions of years old. The characteristics of atoms never
change and are as near to an eternal state by any definition or concept can describe.
Atoms that compose inorganic compounds
such as rocks, granite, crystals, sand, minerals, etc., if not disturbed, are
locked into place until the planet is destroyed. Atoms which compose all
organic compounds of biology, flora and fauna, are locked in only as long as
the biological component lives. At its death, the atoms are eventually released
by deterioration and decay, back into the environment to become free atoms again
and available to be recaptured and used as building material to form another
biological life form of flora or fauna. The atoms used to compose your body
have previously been used to compose some part of an insect, a tree, another
human being, a flower, an animal, and will continue to be used to compose other
biological life forms after your demise. The recycling of atoms will continue
until the end of time.
Another example
of physical recycling of atoms in multi-use situations is a very familiar
process because of today’s knowledge of the universal cycle of atoms. Billions
of years ago, ancient ferns and palm like plants soaked up millions of gallons
of water (H2O) through their roots, and absorbed tons of carbon dioxide (CO2)
through their leaves to use the atoms of these two molecules to construct plant
material. Today we harvest these long dead plants in the form of “fossil fuel”
and burn it to release and use their long stored energy. In the process of
burning, hydrogen and carbon atoms are released back into the atmosphere in
their original form as water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2, while contributing
to the depletion of today’s oxygen (O2). Unfortunately, the increase of these
two compounds in today’s environment is contributing to the detrimental side of
the environmental equation, one to our global warming, and the second to
increases in ocean levels.
We now know that
all biological forms use the same types of atoms (approximately 8 to 12 kinds)
as building material for both flora and fauna. The chromosomes which contain
the DNA blueprints to form both plants and animals are nearly identical. The reproduction
of all species requires two chromosomes to initiate a new organism. A supply of
atoms to construct the determined life form is supplied in the nourishment
consumed, and in the air we breathe. At the end of life, the organism
deteriorates and the atoms are released into the environment to become
available for another cycle of life. Our lives exist as long as we can maintain
a viable organism to use the available supply of building materials. When the
supply of raw material is diminished, or the blueprints (DNA) is corrupted by
time, life ceases to exist.
All life forms
exist as an interim entity whose sole purpose is to procreate or support the
species progressing, evolving, and adapting. We are nothing more than a wave of
life traveling through time. We are made of eternal material which we acquired
and will release again. All things come to an end, galaxies, stars, solar
systems, planets and biological life forms. Their properties (atoms) will be
released back into the cosmos to be recycled into new galaxies, stars, solar
systems, planets, and biological life forms.
The story of a
man who was commanded by a deity to build a boat in order to save all species
of animals from an impending flood 7000 years ago; the story of a man and a deity who decided to
begin a new and “favored” race of people 6000 years ago; the 3000 year old story
of a man and a deity who liberated the favored race of people who had been
enslaved for 400 years; the 2000 year old story of a deity who sired a son with
a human virgin to become a human sacrifice for an afterlife of a heaven where
only Christians may go; the story of a man who became a prophet and father of
the Islamic culture and a story of an afterlife where only “Muslim believers”
may go; these are all stories created by
mankind to define and promote a culture, not a deity.
The concept of an
afterlife that is described in human terms as a heaven or a hell, is the result
of fears and superstitions of humans. All forms of flora and fauna have
embraced life to its fullest and resist death by an innate will to live. Until
recently, humans believed that: stars were lanterns that were turned on at
night by the Gods; Gods used natural disasters to punish the disobedience of
man; the world was flat and floating on the back of a giant turtle; the world
was the center of the universe; we were the only life form in the universe. Now,
we know what we are made of and how the Universe works. The only thing about us
that is eternal are the atoms, dust from ancient dying stars, of which we are
made. And our death contributes to recycling the supply of atomic material available
to continue the wave of life rolling through time.
The personality
or character of each human can be defined as their “spirit,” and continues to
exist after our demise only in the minds and memories of everyone who knew us,
good, bad, or indifferent. The “spirit of our lives” continues to exist only as
long as everyone who knew us, lives. The tradition of placing a headstone over
a grave is an act to perpetuate the remembrance of a “spirit” of the departed, when
all who knew them have passed away. The desire to be remembered is almost as
strong as the will-to-live. Biographies and Memoirs are other ways in which humans
attempt to perpetuate their memory and “spirit.” As long as a person can be
remembered, even by strangers, there is a feeling that their “spirit” will
continue to exist.
o
