Well, the Christian Bible provides part of the answer...According to Jesus, people won’t be married in heaven. Interesting answer, right?
The way I am left to rationalize it is that the relationship between and husband and wife are to reflect the same relationship between Christ and his church. Marriages are supposed to be SO good that they show you how close God is to us, and what it is like to be in a relationship with him. Check out Ephesians 5:25-32.
In the end, people were created to have relationships -- with God and with each other. They are part of God’s plan for this world, and they will stay part of that plan for the next world too. Some things will change, like marriages that don't work out. But in its place the Bible leads us to expect a deep, satisfying relationship with everyone.
I’m afraid that the Bible doesn’t get much more specific than that. We don’t really know the details of how we will relate in heaven, or what it will be like specifically. But it behooves us to believe that it will be a good humane community that works the way communities now are meant to work but don’t.
If heaven is the place it is supposed to be, surely there is no carryover of worldliness or past life.
With that acceptance I move on to perhaps an even greater "life after death" unknown...
In the end, people were created to have relationships -- with God and with each other. They are part of God’s plan for this world, and they will stay part of that plan for the next world too. Some things will change, like marriages that don't work out. But in its place the Bible leads us to expect a deep, satisfying relationship with everyone.
I’m afraid that the Bible doesn’t get much more specific than that. We don’t really know the details of how we will relate in heaven, or what it will be like specifically. But it behooves us to believe that it will be a good humane community that works the way communities now are meant to work but don’t.
If heaven is the place it is supposed to be, surely there is no carryover of worldliness or past life.
With that acceptance I move on to perhaps an even greater "life after death" unknown...
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Dualism is the concept that our mind is more than just our brain. This concept entails that our mind has a non-material, spiritual dimension that includes consciousness and possibly an eternal attribute. One way to understand this concept is to consider our self as a container including our physical body and physical brain along with a separate non-physical mind, spirit, or soul. The mind, spirit, or soul is considered the conscious part that manifests itself through the brain in a similar way that picture waves and sound waves manifest themselves through a television set. The picture and sound waves are also non-material just like the mind, spirit, or soul. The alternative concept is materialism. Materialism holds that everything in our universe is made from physical materials including the human mind or brain and that spiritual attributes do not exist in the universe. This concept holds that our mind and brain are one and the same. ______________________________________________
What actually happens to the mind, or the self, after death? If there's no basis for dualism, the answer is a no-brainer (no pun intended). The moment the brain loses its exquisitely synchronized organization, consciousness is lost. If that breakdown of physical processes is irreversible, consciousness is permanently extinguished, and the unique organization of matter that constituted that individual's person-hood, self or essence ceases to exist.
But since humans are instinctive dualists, the idea of life after death makes complete sense to our intuitions. And that’s not the only reason why the belief comes so naturally to us.
Death has never been popular. Especially when it is seen as the final and utter cessation of being. The prospect's tolerability increases only when it is re- framed as a mere passage to a heavenly paradise filled with all manner of delights -- all the more so for those who are suffering or disadvantaged in this life. Humans are profoundly egocentric, and it is natural for us to frame the world in self-referential terms. We cannot easily conceive of the world existing without us, and we struggle to imagine our absolute nonexistence. Even those who do contemplate death as a complete cessation of existence in any form tend to imagine how being dead would feel.
It's no surprise that belief in life after death is an irresistibly appealing idea that has emerged in diverse forms throughout history. Indeed, the denial of death may be the raison d'être of religions.
Most religions share common beliefs about some sort of eternal essence surviving the decay of our body, which is viewed as a mere vessel or vehicle for the soul. From a very early stage of prehistoric development, it appears that humans have been conscious of and preoccupied with death. Anxiety about death, denial of death, and various forms of belief in an eternal afterlife and the spirits or gods that inhabit and govern such realms have defined practically every religion in human history and prehistory.
Cynics and pessimists who argue that there’s no point to life if it is finite often ask: What is the point of trying to accomplish anything if there is no larger purpose to the universe? What's the point if we simply cease to exist after we die?
Even among those with the gloomiest or most uninspired outlook on life, any otherwise mentally healthy person possessing moderate empathy and humanity and a little ability to transcend egotism and solipsism can be moved to care enough to do something, anything, to mitigate suffering and increase happiness in other people. The suffering and happiness of other people are as real as our own and will continue long after we die. We might doubt whether our own existence matters. But others will continue to exist, and others after them. We all have the opportunity to affect others while we are alive, and how we do so will continue to matter to those others long after we are gone.
As many people know, when you live your life with a commitment to others, a lot of really good things happen to you. Your own life becomes much more satisfying, enriched, and meaningful. There are few ways to feel that your own life matters more than being committed to other people (or animals, or even plants, if that's your preferred commitment and if you don't relate well to people). Caring and devotion are more often than not reciprocal.
Carpe diem! You only live once. Make it count. This is not a dress rehearsal. Life is short and time moves fast. When it's over, it's over!
Better to not spend (waste) time worrying about what is humanly inconceivable.
Life is intended to be a mystery...We are given the option of faith to deal with it.
"How will it actually feel to be dead? Well, remember how you felt for all those eons before you were born? Just like that." -- Dr. Ralph Lewis, Psychology Today.
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