Life is eternal

I am standing upon the seashore.  A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean.  She is an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other.  Then someone at my side say, "There.  She's gone."

Gone where? Gone from my sight - that is all.  She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination.  Her diminished size is in me, not in her; and just at the moment when someone at my side says, "There.  She's gone." there are other eyes watching her coming and other voices ready to take up the glad shout, "here she comes."

                                    Unknown

I've had this in the file with my burial instructions for as long as I can remember.  I have no idea where it came from.   It seems a fitting reading for a Celebration of Life.  Some are saying goodbye while others are gladly anticipating her arrival.  I hope death is like that.  I hope the ones saying goodbye are wishing me a glad reception on the other side.  But who knows.  Who knows who gets the glad reception or where that reception might be?  Do we go straight to heaven (or hell) when we die?  Do we only go after Jesus comes again?  

The Hindus believe the body is temporary but the soul is eternal.  "After death, the soul is reincarnated, taking birth in another physical body or form. Passing from one life to the next, each soul is on a journey of spiritual development facilitated in part by karma, the concept that every thought and action has a corresponding reaction. One experiences the results of both good and bad deeds over a series of lives. The soul is uplifted through every good action performed and degraded with every bad action. Stuck in this cycle of birth and death, known as samsara, the soul experiences the results of its karma, through which it becomes more aware of how its actions affect the world and others around it. This growth of awareness enables one to become a more selfless and loving being, until enough progress has been made to attain moksha, or liberation from samsara, resulting in complete spiritual existence.  https://www.hinduamerican.org/blog/5-things-to-know-about-hindus-and-death"  Christians (very loosely) share a little bit of that belief.  If we follow Jesus and his teachings we will be spared an eternity of damnation.  Reincarnation is a scary thought if you reflect over your life's actions.  How do my good deeds weigh out against my bad deeds?  

I've always been confused about salvation and works (deeds).  I was taught as a child that salvation was only attained by believing in Jesus' death and resurrection.  But we are also taught we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the poor.  Does that play into salvation at all or are those actions manifestations of our belief in Jesus' teachings?  We can't buy eternal life.  The Hindus get a second chance and a third chance and enough chances to make it right through growth of awareness.  Self-awareness is hard.  It it hard to honestly look at oneself through critical eyes in an effort to improve oneself.  The thought of improving myself just so "karma" will treat me a little kinder seems selfish.  I don't think self-improvement has to be selfish or fake.  The times in my life I'm the happiest are times when I'm doing something for others.  Those times aren't mandated.  They are opportunities I've seen to do good somewhere.  

There are just as many opportunities in life to do harm.  It amazes me that "doing harm" comes so naturally to some and not to others.  My father and my husband are two men who naturally do no harm.  My dad could no more intentionally cause you harm than he could have intentionally caused himself harm. It was not in his nature.  I have no idea why.  Nature vs. nurture?  That's a whole argument in itself.  

So when it comes time for me to cross over that blue ocean, my prayer is that someone will be standing on the shore as I arrive gladly shouting "here she comes" because in some way I have lived my life in a way that someone will be anticipating my arrival.