I was watching a youtube with Stephen Colbert and Keanu Reeves they were talking about Keanu’s new “John Wick” movie, an action thriller. I don’t know why I was watching but I was. At the end Colbert for some reason asked Reeves, “So what do you think happens when you die?” Keanu thought or a second and said, “I know the ones that love us will miss us.” I was struck with this statement. So much is speculated about the afterlife, but this statement really is true. And that is remarkable.

I had a gathering with month with the theme “afterlife” and many great stories were shared. One person talked of their irish uncle who when he was near death had conversations with dead people at the same time talking to people in the room physically. This was an example of the Irish “thin veil” which is in the Irish tradition. Others talked of dreams of loved ones who had passed where they talked to them like they were alive. Others talked about near death experiences where they were in a life threathening situation where they felt calm or saw a light or experienced their life passing before their eyes. Others talked about how this picture of the afterlife has changed throughout their life. Believing one thing as a child and another as they grew older or as they experienced a particular event or read a certain book.

The discussion sort of morphed into the experience of death itself where the following quote from Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra illicited much discussion; “In Islam we have a prayer which says, ‘God please save me from a sudden death’. This isn’t asking to become ill be any means. Instead, it allows us to recognize that by becoming ill and understanding that death is near, we have been given time to make peace with our loved ones and prepare for death.”

All in all quite a discussion.

To your health

Todd