It’s simple, I think, “as I approach the final curtain,” but for sure I can’t say “I did it my way.” (Though, maybe I can, as I think about it. I mean, there aren’t many others I know who claim afterlife – what we Christians call the Resurrection – is fundamental in every other faith tradition as well…and that St. Paul is the most important theologian for Christians…and that his first letter to the Corinthians is the most important book in our Bible.) So, maybe I have “done it my way.” Whatever. Probably it doesn’t matter. Who cares?

The simple thing is, the afterlife permits us to have hope in this life, which permits us to act lovingly in this life no matter what! No matter if it seems mad and impossible. No matter if it seems unscientific. No matter if most of the people around us don’t believe it!

St. Paul – the most important theologian, remember – says in 1^st Corinthians – his most important book, remember – that “faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” (I Cor. 13:13, NRSV)

Love – i.e., acting selflessly, charitably, compassionately – is the goal and result, and, likewise, makes the most sense from whatever perspective we come, except, certainly, from the most extreme American capitalism way, which is to say, the Trump/Musk/Project 2025 way. Love is about the neighbor first. The T/M/P 2025 is about always winning and never – never, never, never – losing.

The trouble with love, however, is that it’s hard to do. Especially without faith. Faith is essential – faith that there is an afterlife and you and those you have loved (and even those you haven’t) will not disappear but will be perfected, which is to say, become without the blemishes, warts, and shortcomings, the very things that keep us separated and war-like. We are fallen creatures, after all, every one of us!

It’s hard to do without faith. Yet faith, enough of it at least, is attainable in this life…because it can be glimpsed at, occasionally and sometimes frequently, in this life.

Genetics will do it, but also relationships. In both cases, a loved one who has been lost can be seen in the faces, actions, hopes and ideals of those who remain. Resurrection is glimpsed – as “in a mirror, dimly” (I Cor. 12a) – but seen, nevertheless.

The glory of nature will also do it, as will the arts – music, dance, theater, the visual arts, you name it. All of these, like love, can raise us beyond the ordinary, scientific, measurable ways of this life, to give us a glimpse of the afterlife that lies beyond. It’s called transcendence. It’s called penetration of the great barrier called death that lies between this life and the next one, the one we Christians call Resurrection.

That’s pretty much it, the theology of an old fart. I always wish I could do a better job of explaining it. Neither the Church nor, to be fair, any of our faith-based institutions have done a great job at it. Too much competition over the centuries and millennia, maybe. Too many oversized egos? Too much “orthodoxy?” Who knows? It doesn’t matter. Part of faith is that a way will be found, somehow.

See you next time. “If there is a next time,” of course. God, I loved Saturday Night Live and Don Pardo!