I have 3 main articles of faith.

As far as I can remember, I have always believed in God. For me, it was never a matter of “maybe,” “but,” “what if,” or “prove to me.” My belief in a Creator has always been as natural as breathing.

The main problem humans have in their relationship with God is that they try to figure out His nature. How could there be a Being that always existed, and will continue to exist for all eternity? Why did He decide to create the universe and all that’s in it? What was there before? Why does He functions through 3 different personalities rather than one? (This belief is shared by all, or most, Christian denominations; the mystical part of the Jewish religion, i.e. the Kaballah; and perhaps other religions.) These are all futile questions. The human mind cannot encompass the vastness of the universe; how then can it understand the Creator of this same universe?

This does not mean that God is impossibly remote from us. If we cannot understand His nature, we at least know His attributes. God is loving; compassionate; caring; merciful; generous; always, always, ready to forgive; and many, many other attributes. A fragment of God indwells the human mind. I know without a doubt that He walks with me at all time. He consoles me when I am in pain, and shares my joy when I am happy.

The second article is the subject of my discussion. I will get to it in a moment.

The third article is something I have complete faith in, understand intellectually but would otherwise find it difficult to write about it. But I am not giving up!

In my first book, Anguish!, I devoted an entire chapter on the subject of survival (I use this term since, as I will argue later on, after the demise of the physical body, we as a personality continue to exist). My chapter on survival is over 20 pages. Therefore, I can only include the salient points.

My wife, Norma, has always been fascinated by the subject of survival. She bought, and borrowed from the library, numerous books on this topic. She insisted that I read some of them and wanted to discuss their contents with me. But she was largely ignored.

One day, she borrowed from the library a book written by a well-known parapsychologist. We were lucky to have come across this book, for it presented the case for survival in a very logical manner. Norma read it first and insisted that I read it after her. I did not put any real resistance since by then I was 42 years old and was more than a little concerned about my own mortality.

This book was a revelation. I read it in record time and reread many of its parts again. I then discussed it with Norma, and gave a lot of thought to what I had read. I realized for the first time that survival was a possibility. After all the trials and tribulations of our life, we were destined to go to a better place.

One book, needless to say, was not going to convince me. But it proved to be a starting point. I was on a quest and I was determined not to rest until I found a satisfactory answer.

Over the next 5 years, I read many books on the subject and very carefully considered the evidence. There was no way out of it. Survival, at least for me, has been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt!

The quest to prove survival has been going on for thousands of years. It became more structured towards the end of the 19th century. The work done to prove survival, and other areas of the paranormal, became known as psychical research.

It would be beyond the scope of this article to go into the details of psychical research. Numerous books have been written on this topic; the interested reader can refer to them.

Once I had satisfied myself that sufficient evidence for survival existed, my next question was what comes after that.

Numerous accounts existed on the next world in the books I had read. The Urantia book goes in exquisite details on what they call the Mansion World.

Before I go any further, some comments are in order.

First of all, communicators from this next world faces a very difficult task when they describe their world. Because it is so utterly different and so removed from our own experience, they can only give us a vague notion as to what to expect when our time come.

Death does not bring any magical changes. When you wake up in the next world, you will find you are the exact same person you were when you dwelt in the flesh. The only difference is that you will have a different body. Your qualities and imperfections will still be there. Your knowledge will not be augmented just because you have left your physical body. Any changes will have to come through your own efforts.

The next world is not a vague and ethereal place. It is a solid piece of real estate. Some communicators have used the world sphere to describe this world.

The most important point to remember is that you do not see God right after you die. This would be utterly impossible. God – the ultimate spirit – is the most infinite mind in the universe. The human being – an intelligent animal – is the most finite mind in the universe. Humans cannot meet their maker until they have closed this immense gap.

There are no adequate words in our language to describe the beauty of the place you will see in the next world. You will be overwhelmed by the incredible brilliance of the light and by the splendor of gardens filled with an infinite number of trees, shrubs, and flowers. You will feel surrounded by love and you will experience an incredible sense of peace and happiness. Your biggest joy, at the beginning, will be your reunion with your loved ones who had preceded you in this world.

At the beginning, you are given time to adjust to your surroundings and to reflect on your life.

You will not, however, just sit and enjoy your surroundings. To do nothing for all eternity would be the worst hell imaginable. While nobody will ever force you, you will be expected when you are ready to begin your development. There will be a lot of learning to absorb, and a lot of work to do. You will be guided by numerous beings. With love and understanding, they will assist you along the way.

What you learn and what work is expected of you I do not know. There is a reference to glorious challenges and very stimulating work.

At the beginning, having still some animal vestiges left, you will not do what is expected of you in a completely voluntary manner. But there will come a time when you will want to learn and will want to work. Human imperfections such as laziness, procrastination, and irresponsibility would have died forever. You are becoming a beautiful being, the beast in you is dying, the spirit is coming to the fore.

The concept of time is different over there, thus communicators never report to us how long it takes, on the average, to reach a certain stage.

But it is not all work and no play. There is time for leisure. There are plays, music, dance, and art. You are also given time to simply relax and reflect. This curse of earthly life, loneliness, doesn’t exist there. But if you so desire, you are left alone.

The first world you go to is certainly not the last. A time will come when you will graduate from this world and go on to a more advanced and more beautiful world. You continue to advance to worlds which are getting increasingly more advanced and more beautiful.

There will come a time when you have developed to the point where you have enough understanding of the nature of God. Only then can you stand in front of HIM and recognize HIM. And what a glorious moment this will be for both the Creator and you!

Returning to your Creator does not mean that you disappear as an entity. You continue to exist and to develop.

When you came into the universe, you have in effect started a sublime adventure. This adventure goes on forever!

I close this section with a beautiful passage from the Urantia book:

You humans have begun an endless unfolding of an almost infinite panorama, a limitless expanding of never-ending, ever-widening spheres of opportunity for exhilarating service, matchless adventure, sublime uncertainty, and boundless attainment. When the clouds gather overhead, your faith should accept the fact of the presence of the indwelling Adjuster, and thus you should be able to look beyond the mists of mortal uncertainty into the clear shining of the sun of eternal righteousness on the beckoning heights of the mansion worlds of Satania.

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