We often speak of the “afterlife” to quell our fear
of death. I prefer to think of the “beforelife,”
a place where souls wait in line for the next uterus to pull to the curb, plump with a newly-formed
vehicle inside.
You might end up as a handmaid to Cleopatra, or palling around with Mark
Twain. If your timing is just right you
could even be in line to the throne of England right this very minute, but you’ll
have to act quickly.Occasionally, things can go awry, like when some brash soul cuts in line only to find upon birth that it has a penis where a vagina was expected, but for the most part we seem to accept the life circumstances we’re born into and make the best of them.
We arrive as we departed, through a tunnel
bookended by light. Hence the term, “the
light at the end of the tunnel.” I just
made that up. I have no idea where that
saying comes from and am too lazy to Google it, but you may if you wish. Catch up when you get back.
It doesn’t take long before environment and DNA take over and we forget who we are and where we just came from,
only to spend our allotted years here trying to figure it out again. Then all too soon it’s over and back we go, arriving
on the other side wondering “What the fuck was that all about?” Yet each and
every time most of us are still gripped by the fear of death like some poor
fool who just never gets the joke.
And so it goes…
What place does God have in all this? I don’t think God gives a crap whether we
believe in Him or not. For the record,
I do, although not the God that religious zealots have hijacked to push their own
particular agendas on the rest of us. If
you’re seeking judgment or punishment, there’s plenty of that to be had on
earth and we usually inflict it on ourselves.
The God of my beliefs welcomes everyone, sinner or saint, advising us to
“Rest, recoup and try to do better next time.”
Over at the One-Minute Writer, today’s prompt was
to write about our vision of the afterlife.
Here’s mine: When this current
life has run its course, I want to be reunited with all the animals I’ve loved,
especially my horses. I want to climb on
their backs and gallop green hills, jumping over downed trees and fences with
an ease I could never master while on the earthly plane. I want to bury my face in the soft fur of
every cat I’ve ever cuddled and feel the joyful kisses of recognition from every
dog that has honored me with its love.
And then I want to have a good sit-down with Nora
Ephron…
Describe
your perfect afterlife. It’s never too
soon to plan…
