Cont

You ask “I believe that there must be something else for us – it can't just end with our body - can it?” and I would respond by asking why is it important for you to believe there must be something else?

If a belief in an afterlife assists people in their walk through the here-and-now then I'm happy to consider it worthwhile for them but I now know I'm pretty comfortable with the 'That's all folks' ending.

This is especially true when I consider 4/5ths of the world's population would not have had access to the medical care that I have been afforded just because I was lucky enough to be born in this country.

I often reflect that I am right now living a quite utopian life in relative terms to the bulk of humanity and in a way it is kind of selfish for me to want more.

So another question might be what prevents people from being comfortable with the notion that a full and complete life might happily be the sum of it while a life cut short or lived in constant distress might be a tragedy.

Indeed I would argue most humans instinctively realise this because a firm belief in an utopian afterlife must surely neuter the very notion of tragedy.

And as it would be an absolute tragedy to have you unable to contribute to OLO could I invite you to concentrate on a speedy recovery.

Foxy Foxy you have me worried, for those who do not know Foxy has been unwell for a while.
And told us quite a long time ago, she got battered by another poster who herself is sick, for trawling for sympathy.
Foxy you are OLO in my view the very best of it.
Knowing your family is reading ,being truly concerned for them too you all have my hopes with you.
We have had a thread like this, maybe even before Foxy came here, it was an interesting one.
Can anyone remember its name?
This firm non believer knows, some thing exists after death.
It may be that our brain dies after the body, or that it lets us dream of an after life as we die.
But I think not, be brave be honest folks, have you felt a dead persons presents?
I have, maybe my mind did it?
Then why/
My thoughts did not in any way include them as it took place.
Get well Foxy.

Foxy,
Ever heard Eric Clapton's Tears in Heaven, which he wrote in memory his son Conor who died very young? Musicians and poets are able to express the very complex in ways that help us to work through our own feelings too.

Much of our fear of our own mortality comes from understandable concern about the welfare of those we must leave behind and our memories, feelings of loss of those who have gone before - holes that can never be filled. Anyhow, here is Clapton:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AscPOozwYA8

There are times when all we can do is play some familiar music, look through photos, read poetry and have a good weep. If we also weep for the loss of our youth so be it, that is perfectly understandable especially where we may not always have had the opportunity, through life's circumstances at the time, to enjoy and savour a happy childhood and youth.

Must have been the week for it Foxy. I spent last Saturday to Tuesday staring at dodgy over priced tele too. lol Glad you're doing alright, and glad I am too.

By default I believed in the after life coz I was labelled a Christian as a kid, she's a hard one to get your head around though. Took me awhile accept this as a concept and acknowledge, "Yeah, I'll take this one on board too..." after much head space turmoil.

It's funny, I remember asking my old man about this very topic and at the time my cat had just died; I was young. I mean, if we've got souls and an 'ever after' shouldn't my cat?. IF that's the case though, wouldn't heaven be FULL TO OVER FLOWING with all the people and animals that meant something to me all through my life?. Really, if I enjoyed your company - for example - so much in this existence couldn't I have some version of you to meet up with for a cuppa and scones every morning for a yap?. Still trying to get my head around that. lol

ANYWHO, my acceptance of an 'ever after' - sounds a little Drew Barrymore - came with various run ins with things I couldn't explain either first hand or through people I trust.

One example: I lived in a two story house with one female. It had a wooden floor upstairs. If you were down stairs, on occasion, with an empty house, you could DEFINITELY hear a man in work boots walking through up stairs. This happened one day and I went up and here was my cat - open back door - curled up under the couch having pissed herself. THREE of us ALL heard this bloke walking up the front stairs to the front door one night. No one knocked...

Don't expect to be believed, and I don't care if anyone does, but moments like that and MANY others gave me an acceptance of "something more".

Wishing you a speedy recovery Foxy.

I don’t believe in the survival of anything after death. We are just one of 4.2 million biological species on this planet, not to mention other planets. We all go the same way, ashes to ashes.

That’s not to say that the threat of personal extinction does not cause some profound moments.

I’m reminded of the story of W.C Fields, a lifelong agnostic, caught reading the bible by relatives during his final days. When asked why? He responded, “just looking for loopholes, just looking for loopholes”.

Stay well and enjoy your afterlife

I'll just add my good wishes, Foxy. Nil desperandum.

On the subject of a soul/afterlife, I'm with Suzie, though. I've had a couple of close calls myself and it's natural to think "what if". Having thought a lot on it, once we eliminate the ego-driven wishful thinking, we come to the question "how". How would this persistence of one's soul be managed? What is the mechanism and what is the motivating principle for such a thing to evolve? Would the absence of such a mechanism mean that the rest of what we observe is somehow less explicable? I have to say that it would not, thus Occam's Razor applies.

OTOH, if one has a "good soul", it lives on in those they know. We "feel their presence" and we choose to act in ways that they might regard with approval. We follow their example and we remember their deeds and thoughts. What more can anyone hope for?