Life After Death?

As a Parent there are some questions one is asked that are so fundamental we have to answer them as honestly as we can, one is: “Where do we come from?” Another is: “What happens after we die?” When my five year old asked this I tried a fairy story: “We go to Heaven,” “What’s Heaven?” “It’s the place where God lives, we go there after we die.” “Did God create death?” “Yes.” “Why?” “Well, the day after God created Himself, he was lonely, His loneliness was such that He decided to create the world, and then he sent Death to stalk the world He had created and take people to live with Him in their afterlife.” “Why take the dead and not the living?” “Because God likes Spirits?” “Anyway, I thought God was everywhere!” “He is.” “So why bother with heaven?” “It’s to make sure we behave ourselves, it’s like a big treat!” She laughed and said: “You’re being silly…”

It says in the Bible: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” As a parent I take this as my guiding principle. So I took her to the Natural History Museum: “Look at this Rabbit,” and we saw the Rabbit alive, dead; decomposing: you see there is an afterlife, our decay gives life to other creatures, insects and plants.  She was fascinated.

It is fun to believe in fairy-stories, but there comes a time to put away childish things.

This article appeared in the Oxford Mail on Tuesday August 23rd, page 18.