An “Update” On Death

FRI., MAY 17, 1996, 9:17 PM
FARM, STUDY

As the new week commences, in just a few days, you shall again lead a group of mostly mature students in a short, concentrated “study” of this thing called death. You are quite comfortable with this task, you have a reputation that precedes you (for some learners), and your main dilemma will be in selecting from the many successful activities and approaches that you have available.

You know, of course, that I, the Holy Spirit, am available for “consultation”, and this evening, as a matter of fact, I have some observations that you may use, particularly in relation to the perspectives that I’ve helped you develop. I haven’t offered you a Teaching on this theme for awhile. Consider that it’s now time for such.

Even though I am One with the Father and Creator God and with Jesus, the Christ, and, hence We are the Christian God I’ll have some positive observations on each of the others. So even I am not 100% Christian, as death is perceived in that tradition. But I will start with what you would expect to hear Me favoring – the Christian perspective.

It begins with a creation story. As the Creator God I took a lump of earthen clay and out of it formed a man. Then into this natural creation I breathed the breathe of life, and this creation became a living soul, a connection with God through Me, the Spirit. Woman was then formed from this man, and she also became a living soul, not just a special kind of animal. It is assumed that I do this “breathing into” process with every baby born. I’ll just say it’s not automatic. You know how I love diversity.

The purpose of life is to fully acknowledge and love Me as this ultimate Creator and Sustainer, both Mother and Father, actually. When you do this you have a strong sense of selflessness, the need to give rather than receive, to serve rather than to be served. You should also have a sense that this body is but a temporary home for your soul. My story, as Jesus, a human man who lived in the earth, concludes with My sacrificing My bodily life for the sins of the world. In other words, out of death came the fullness of life for all of you. My death is remembered in Holy Communion, where, symbolically, you eat of My flesh and drink of My blood which both gives you life anew and reminds you that you may do likewise… give up your life… for the good of others (including the whole web of life).

You are promised eternal, everlasting life, but after a time of judgment as to how you have lived the earth life I gave you. The orthodox Christian perspective is not clear from this point on, first on how and on what you will be judged… clean living or acceptance of grace… or some combination… and then on where you go and what you do for eternity. Heaven and hell are alluded to, but have been more fully developed in non-Scriptural literature.

The life-after-life perspective has a central figure, often identified as Me, like, as Jesus, but you are greeted with love and friendliness… and the focus is on reviewing and evaluating the life just lived rather than harshly judging it. But then what? This perspective tells that you’re in a body, hale and hearty, but not actually physical. You’ll be greeted and helped with the transition by spirits known to you in the life just completed, who preceded you in death. This has more detail than the Christian but no clear answer to what lies beyond the “barrier”.