The Awakening

What happens when we die?

Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself; and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out-those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. - John 5:24-29

There are two schools of thought about life after death.  One is that all are saved and make it to heaven, while the other believes the good go to heaven and the evil go to hell.

Now, there are those who don't believe anything happens, that we just die and that's it.  And that is where John takes us in today's Gospel reading. 

The dead are dead, Jesus tells us, but there will be an awakening.  And when that comes, there will be a judgment.

If that is the way it is, then how would it appear to us? 

It could be that when we die, time stops.  We no longer experience anything.  We are unaware of the passage of time because we are dead. 

So the awakening, when it comes, will seem like the very next instant to us, even if it takes millennia to happen.  So, I guess we can expect our peaceful rest to be cut short, and we will be called to judgment.

This is what I was taught as a child, but not what we hear today.  Today, the message we often get is one of forgiveness of everyone, and that seems confusing. 

But I don't think the two messages are in conflict with one another.  So long as we are alive, we can turn back to God and repent for the things that could lead us to judgment.

Of course this whole approach leaves us wondering about the soul.  If the body is dead and no longer experiences anything, what happens to the soul?  Does it go on or does it wait in limbo for the judgment, like we used to think about Purgatory?

I'm not sure John addressed that in his Gospel, so we will have to look elsewhere.  But the fact that we really don't know for sure what happens should give us pause.

Shouldn't we try to live a good life anyway?

Maybe it is time for an awakening in this life.

More to come...