What Will You Experience ‘30 Seconds In’?
'THE MERRY CATHOLIC' -- Life after death is gonna be a trip!
When we are 30 seconds in, it’s going to be a real eye-opener. A half-minute after we die, when we realize we’re definitely on the other side of eternity, we will look around and think, Oh no, I had it all wrong!
Certainly for someone who did not believe the spiritual realm of reality even existed, he will experience shock at still being conscious. For so long he assumed death would be similar to an eternal dreamless sleep, but at that moment, 30 seconds in, he’ll be stunned and frightened to find himself in a whole new dimension where spiritual realities cannot be ignored. He also will be amazed at how different everything is: surreal, like a Salvador Dali painting come to life, and yet more intensely real than anything on earth. The sights and sounds and smells will be so powerful, along with a clarity of thought he rarely enjoyed during natural life. And, as mentioned earlier, his main thought at that moment will be: Oh no, I had it all wrong!
This atheist (well, former atheist as of 30 seconds earlier) might use his newfound cognitive powers to recall a conversation with his late Aunt Mildred, who years ago begged him to join her at church because faith in God, she insisted, was the most important thing in the world. He will lament dismissing Aunt Mildred as an annoying religious nut.
For someone else, such as a longtime church-goer, the response will be similar 30 seconds in. There won’t be the same shock that life after death really exists, but there will be awe at how unexpected everything is on the other side. Even if this person was like Aunt Mildred, telling everyone she knew, especially wayward nieces and nephews, how important church attendance is, her enhanced mental abilities will cause her to be apprehensive. She will understand in a new way that vibrant faith is not measured solely by perfect church attendance, but by how intensely one loves God and loves other people. She will grimace and think, Oh no, I had it all wrong!
For yet another person — say, a fellow who liked to write essays about faith and record some of them for the local Catholic radio station — he will be in total shock 30 seconds in. Suddenly, it will be clear that religious faith was not just one of a dozen things competing for his attention. Focusing on God mostly on Sunday mornings, or whenever a deadline loomed, was the epitome of half-hearted faith. This guy will be overwhelmed by the thought: Oh no, I had it all wrong!
He will clearly recall every word of an article he wrote years earlier, where he explained that many people look at all the activities of life as squares on a checkerboard. There’s the work square, spouse square, child-rearing square, yardwork square, watching baseball on TV square, etc. And in the lower corner of the checkerboard is the religion square. When people are on the religion square, that’s what they focus on. When they’re on a different square, religious faith is ignored. This guy then concluded by telling his readers that religion should not be a single square, but instead the entire checkerboard, the foundation of every other activity in life. Thirty seconds in, he’ll remember how he patted himself on the back for having such spiritual insight and sharing it so cleverly with his readers. Then he’ll understand that he went most of his adult life not practicing what he preached, and he will cringe.
Scripture tells us, “Eye has not seen, and ear has not heard … what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). We can be pretty sure no matter how strong or weak our faith has been during our natural lives, 30 seconds after our bodies have died and our souls and spirits have made the journey to the other side of eternity, we will be shocked. It will be like nothing we ever could imagine.
At that moment, we will think, Oh no, I had it all wrong! However, will we have that thought because we’re so amazed by the glories of Heaven? Or will it be due to deep regret?
Two things are certain: first, we all will experience profound surprise when we cross over to the other side of eternity. And second, whether our surprise is joyful awe, acute embarrassment, or overwhelming grief depends on what we do now. It’s never too early to start pondering what it will be like 30 seconds in.
(These “Merry Catholic” essays are featured on WJMJ, 88.9 FM, the radio station for the Archdiocese of Hartford, CT.)
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