What Comes Next?

Today is the last day in my lifetime that the day, month and year will all be the same.  12/12/12.  According to some of my friends, this is a very big deal.  We got to talking last night about how it might be the end of the world, how something catastrophic may happen.  Never mind that a calendar is a human concept, the simple assignment of numbers and names to the passage of time.  Who knows if whatever spiritual power that controls beginnings and endings is on the same calendar as we are?

It did get me to thinking, though, about the world and about what comes after the world.  You can say what you like about religion and faith, but the truth is no one knows what happens after death.  Everything else we can—and probably have—studied, explored, explained, understood or at least begun to understand.  But this: not a clue.

Religion is our attempt to deal with this.  It’s comforting, isn’t it, for someone to say, “Don’t worry, when we die everything will be better.”  It’s reassuring to believe that there’s something greater than this sometimes humdrum life we live.  But every religious person fears a single question: what if you’re wrong?

I’m a Christian.  I believe very strongly in redemption and resurrection and heaven and hell and God’s love.  But I don’t think it’s a bad thing to question my beliefs.  What if I am wrong?  What if there is nothing after death, and all of my striving to be a good person was wasted?

In that case, I would argue that it wasn’t wasted.  Even if after death I go into a hole and stay there, and my consciousness is forever lost, my religion wasn’t pointless.  Religion serves not only as hope for after death, but also a philosophy for life.  Even if I am wrong, believing what I believe makes me a better person in this life.  It makes me more sympathetic, more thoughtful, and also more confident in myself.  Other religions do the same, teaching kindness, respect, balance, and harmony to their followers.  We are better people because of our beliefs.

So I maintain that it doesn’t matter what happens when the world ends, or in Whom we put our trust.  In the end, no one really knows what’s right or wrong, and every religion has its good points.  Our goal should be to make this world the best place we can, because it may be all we have, and if it isn’t, well, we can move on into the next with our consciences clear.