What happens to us when we die?

We live on in those we’ve touched

John Brewer, member, Unitarian Fellowship of Lawrence, 1263 N. 1100 Road:

Unitarian-Universalists respect and explore the concepts of immortality that we have inherited from our Christian forebears as well as those we have learned from other wisdom traditions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism.

I can only guess about the life-after-death beliefs of other Unitarian-Universalists, but those beliefs probably range from some kind of spiritual continuation (either in another realm or back in the material world, as in transmigration of the soul) to no afterlife at all.

What I am more certain of is that we live on in the lives of those we have touched. I know this because I have experienced the gifts of persons long dead, both famous and anonymous, who continue to enrich and inform my life. I don’t have to strain my imagination to feel these gifts, because without them, I would not be me.

I am partly the result of the collaboration of my parents and grandparents, all of whom I was lucky enough to know. But they themselves were equally blessed (or cursed, as the case may be) by my great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents, whom I know in name only, or not even that much.

And amazingly the line of influence is there — it HAS to be — all the way back to the brave souls who trekked out of the African savannas. Trying to grasp the depth of this story is, for me, a challenging spiritual exercise.

Knowing that so many others live in me, I have to assume that I will, at least in this modest sense, live in the souls of others. It is my prayer that my ongoing presence will be a blessing, but (unless I get a surprise) I won’t have any way of knowing. It’s all a way of motivating me to live a life of integrity, love and creativity in the world I know.

Send e-mail to John Brewer at jbrewer@sunflower.com.

Soul endures when body dies

Pat Lechtenberg, pastoral associate and panelist for funeral-planning workshop, “Celebrating Life: Planning a Last Going-Away Party,” 7 p.m. Tuesday, St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, 1234 Ky.:

I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Forty years ago, I would have said that when we die, we will be judged by God, that our soul or spirit will live on even as our bodies decay. I expect that at the end of time, our bodies will somehow be reconstituted and be better than ever. I would have been restating what I have been taught. I’m very grateful I have that belief.

I was with my grandmother during her last days in 1963. I thought she was dreaming a lot when she talked about her young husband who had died in 1919 as if she had just visited with him. I saw the smile and the radiance on her face during that time while she floated between life and death.

In 1983, my mother-in-law died and was resuscitated. She calmly told us later about one of my husband’s childhood friends she had seen, and the message she had for his mother. The friend had died just a month earlier and Mom didn’t know of the death or the circumstances.

Two years ago, my parents died within a month of each other, after nearly 62 years of marriage. After my mother’s death, my father smiled as he talked about her and his parents. He spoke as if he could see them and couldn’t wait to join them.

What happens to us when we die? I honestly can say that I believe we will be given an opportunity to review our lives and to see when and how we fell short of our potential. I most certainly believe our souls live on when our bodies die. The thing I am confident of is this: When we die, I’m sure we’re heading for one grand family reunion.

Even as family and friends here on Earth are saying their goodbyes, there will be others in another realm who are saying, “Welcome home.”

Send e-mail to Pat Lechtenberg at plechtenberg@saint-johns.net.