I am old enough at this point to be fully aware that I am close enough to the end of the tunnel that I can see it. There was a time that the end of the tunnel was a vague light in the distance. At this point, it is close enough that I am beginning to see details. The old joke is that the light at the end of the tunnel is a train heading in your direction. That is, of course, a metaphorical joke.
Everyone’s life eventually comes to an end. While I think we are right to to postpone reaching the end of our particular tunnel as long as we can do so ethically, we need to be aware that everyone—no exceptions—everyone eventually reaches the end of the tunnel. A number of my friends from grammar and high school reached their end of the tunnel early. Quite a few of my friends from my time in the Army reached the end of the tunnel before they were discharged. Some lost their lives in combat, while others died while driving drunk.
I have been among the lucky. I have avoided early death. That doesn’t mean that I have avoided death. I am not yet counting hours or days, but I am increasingly aware that the character often called “The Grim Reaper” is “out there” waiting. My sense—my belief—is that both Heaven and Hell are metaphorical. So … what happens next? That, of course, is the main question. Most of our ancestors envisioned a “Heaven” where the “good” people went for their eternal reward, and a “Hell” where the “bad” people went for their eternal punishment.
We (people—all people at all times) make up stuff we think will happen in the “after life.” Even those people who think that there is “no ‘there’ there” are making it up. Some claim to have been visited by “dead” ancestors who described the “after-life” in great detail. No one can of course do better than the Buddha of Debra’s story.
Whatever you believe, the chances are good that it is at least partially true. It is also at least partially false. The only way to know for sure is to die. When I was a young child and concerned about death, I complained to my father, saying that he, too, would die. His response was, “Of course. But I will have lived first.” That is, after all, all we can do. Live to the best of our ability for as long as we can.
At some point, we can hope to meet Buddha and Jesus. And then we may get to do it all again….