afterlife | Mostly Bright Ideas

Browsing All posts tagged under »afterlife«

Afterthoughts (Part 4)

October 2, 2013

Time, I eventually figured out, was a critical factor. Centuries could pass, and you might sit there in Purgatory, shuffling from one depressing room to another, and watching as your great-great-grandchildren are born, grow up, die, and through some fluke of good luck, go straight to Heaven. By then, of course, no one would be […]

Afterthoughts (Part 3)

September 24, 2013

And then there was a place called Purgatory. It was where you went if you were too good for Hell, but not good enough for Heaven. At least, not yet good enough. Purgatory was, in effect, a series of waiting areas with gray walls and beige carpeting. Or maybe it was the other way around. […]

Afterthoughts (Part 2)

September 16, 2013

If Hell was the bottom of existence, a fiery chasm where the despicable and the disobedient sank and settled and stayed forever, then Heaven was the top. Floating above the loftiest peaks and even the highest clouds, it was a place infused with yellow sunlight and immeasurable goodness. All interactions there were calm and devoid […]

Afterthoughts (Part 1)

September 9, 2013

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I think about the afterlife a lot, mostly because I no longer accept that there is such a thing. The wish is still there, but the conviction has vanished. This process of changing context, of moving from faith to doubt to skepticism, has been long and gradual. There was a time when I was thoroughly […]

Live, Die, Repeat. But Please Spare Us the Dibbly-Dobbly.

April 11, 2011

A Brief Discussion of Reincarnation and the World Cup of Cricket. And Heaven and Baseball, too. As part of my attempt to co-write another post about India with blogging friend Priya of Partial View, I watched the Cricket World Cup Final on April 2. After defeating arch-rival Pakistan in the semi-finals, India was playing Sri […]

Does God Exist? Yes, and No.

July 27, 2010

Is there a God? As a child, I never heard anyone ask this question. We skipped over it, at home and in my Catholic school. The questions we jumped to were from the Baltimore Catechism: Who made us? (God made us.) Who is God? (God is the Supreme Being, infinitely perfect, who made all things […]