noodle

I go 'round and 'round with this all the time due to my line of work and the numerous religions, faiths and beliefs that we all come into contact with on a daily basis. My Chaplain and I have very different belief systems and frequently have to agree to disagree.

Working with kids who are chronically ill and sometimes at the end of life/dying, I've been asked a million times if they're going to heaven, if I believe in heaven, what is going to happen after they die.
The easiest way for me to put it is, "I believe, kiddo, that whatever you believe is going to happen after you die is what is going to happen to you."
I'm not allowed to bring religion into the workplace (supposedly) unless the patient brings it.
However, the staunch Christians that I work with will often bring in God and Heaven before a child does, which frustrates me.
I don't believe in a heaven, personally, so I'm not going there.
But I have no idea if someone's faith is strong enough to make heaven or their chosen view of the afterlife exist.
I just can't ever tell a child that their thought process about an afterlife is wrong, regardless of what I believe. They're going to die, with or without my involvement in their lives. My job is to make the process easier. Therefore, I'll back them up.

Now, personally, I figure I'm going to get cremated and that will be the end of it.
I'd like to believe in reincarnation, minus the whole Kafka-Cockroach punishment aspect of it, but I have no idea if it truly exists. Nice thought, though.
I, too, kinda have trouble figuring out how the mind continues without the power of the body fueling it.

__________________