Yes, There is Life After Death; But Not What You Think

People often ask, “What is the meaning of life?” Is there a God, eternal life, resurrection, etc.? Some say that the meaning of life and all the things spiritual in nature are different for each individual and that they are very personal experiences. Well last weekend, without even knowing it,my daughter gave me the answer and here it is.

While sitting in the back deck of my house, she noticed some plants with brown leaves that looked as if they were dead. She said, "Dad why are you growing dead plants?" Without thought or realization, I responded saying, “I just placed them in the dirt; right now they are making roots and by spring, these plants will mature and bring forth beautiful flowers."

How ironic, because I had forgotten all about this incident until today. As I often do while I work outside in my backyard garden, I think and meditate. In fact, working in the garden offers me the best relaxation that there is. In the garden, I find peace, serenity, and contentment and often think of God.

As a philosophical thinker, I remember well, the words of the famous German philosopher, Baruch Spinoza, who when asked about the existence of God explained it by the way of nature. For Spinoza, God was everything in the world, everything living made into one with God being at the center of the universe.

But back on my daughter’s question: In order to achieve new life, one must die. Well how true is that? Because that little plant that I was talking about first dies, then the leaves become brown. The plant for all practical purposes and superficial appearances is dead. 

We are the same when we get old.  

But death is not what appears to be. We die only to be resurrected, not that we are coming back anytime soon. We come back into other people’s lives. Just like the plant, that plant dies and a new one springs out with beautiful leaves and flowers.  

We live forever and achieve new life by what we leave behind. When we do a good deed, we show others to do the same. When we help a less fortunate person, what we are really doing is the work of God. In other words, our deeds in this world and what we leave behind is the true meaning of life.

I remember someone once said a long time ago, that a person is not ready to die until he or she has done something for society: mankind. John Donne put it best when he said, "... Any man's death i me because I am involved in mankind."  How true are those words, yes, what we do here on earth counts in the new spiritual life that we receive at death.  

What a lesson my daughter taught me without even realizing what she was doing.