959. From where do we derive the instinctive sense of a future life?
“We already told you, the spirit knows everything before reincarnation and the soul retains a vague memory of what it knew in its spirit state.” (See no. 393)
Human beings have always been preoccupied with the question of a life after death and this is completely natural. Whatever importance they may attach to this life, they cannot help but wonder about the future, since this life is brief and may be cut short at any moment. What becomes of them after death? The question is a serious one, because it refers to eternity and not just a few years. The person who is about to spend many years in a foreign country tries to determine what his or her position will be there beforehand. In that vein, how could we not wonder what our state will be when we leave our present life, since it will be forever?
The idea of reduction to nothingness is averse to reasoning. The most negligent person, about to leave this life, wonders what is going to become of him or her and involuntarily hopes for something more. To believe in God without believing in a future life is illogical. The intuition of a better life lies in every human being’s inner consciousness. God cannot have placed it there without a reason.
The concept of a spiritual life implies the preservation of our individuality after death. What is the point of surviving the body, if our moral essence is lost in the ocean of infinity? Such a result is the same as reduction to nothingness.
