InsaneJournal

Prompt #23 Afterlife?
Prompt #23 Do you believe in an afterlife? If so, what do you expect to find when you get there?

I’d like to think that there is something beyond the current existence we have. When I was growing up I was exposed to many different beliefs and ideas about what happened after death. The local Reverend of course subscribed to the Christian belief of there being a heaven and hell. Although his preaching seemed to centre more on the morality of such films as ‘Joan of Arc’ and ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ than what would happen to our immortal souls.

Of course the beliefs of the local Inuit tribes were quite different. Their understanding of the world was not within a Christian framework but a more ancient one of spirits, animism. Everything has a spirit and it’s the shaman who is in charge of controlling and interpreting these spirits and their wishes. You have to be careful not to offend the spirits. When killing an animal you release its spirit to take revenge so the proper rituals must be performed to avoid this. There are a whole set of rituals and taboos to help do this.

I like to think that spirits do live on after death though there is no empirical proof. My father never professed a specific belief in an after-life, although the occasional presence of his ghost would suggest there is something after death. Of course I don’t know if when I’m conferring with the ghost of my dead father it’s not in my head, although others claim to have seen him, so perhaps he is real.

If that’s the most I can hope for, the chance to come back and still visit this world, then I wouldn’t be disappointed. In case my spirit doesn’t live on, however, I like to think that perhaps I will live on in the minds of the people I know. As a Mountie, part of a long tradition of honour and duty. That is the ultimate fear of men, to be forgotten but wearing this uniform that means part of me never will. That is perhaps the afterlife I shall have.