Bare Bones Beliefs

    Some time after we are born we start wondering about death.  Perhaps this has something, or even a lot to do with the reason why, throughout all of the past eras of man there have been and consequently there are and always will be religious and other such notions, aka, belief systems in the world .  These “belief systems” (which even includes atheism and agnosticism), though, may at times be a source of angst and/or bewilderment for some, or perhaps many people -- myself included.

    One day, however, I made an attempt to assess the very core aspects of my own metaphysical beliefs -- my “bare bones beliefs” without addressing any aspects with regard to all of the nitty-gritty dogmas of any particular religion’s tenets.  In doing so, I wondered about the possibility of there being some basic, common ground that most people could find tenable other than ‘you live; you die.’  I wondered about how the world would be a much more congenial and safer place to live if everyone could, at the very least, ascribe to some basic notions of what life is (and conversely isn’t) in the here now, which will have a bearing on the here after.

    However, if I am a particular type of Christian and someone else is a proponent of some other Christian or non-Christian religion, this wishful “wondering” usually isn’t very tenable. Nevertheless, as I try to walk the middle path of understanding and tolerance regardless of the exclusive claims or dogmas of any particular religious, or non-religious persuasion, I am unable to put aside or mitigate many essential and pivotal aspects of my Christianity. Simply put, although I study the works of diverse Christian and non-Christian belief systems and recognize their value, I believe, first and foremost in He whom we have come to know as Jesus Christ, and in the central Christian tenet that He is the Savior of all mankind and that His teachings eclipse those of any other person. I make no apologies for this because Christus omnia mihi est -- Christ is everything to me.

    Having said this, I essentially believe:

That life is a miracle, and although we spend more time dead than alive, death is not the end of life;
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That we continue to exist in some form as functioning, unique individuals beyond life in this world;
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That the only thing of lasting worth in this life and beyond it is the good that we are because of the good that we do for ourselves,
and for the sake of others;
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That doing good means living in accordance with all good teachings such as the ‘Golden Rule’;
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That after our sojourn in this mortal world there is an accounting in the next one as for the good that was done,
and where much is given, much is required;
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That regardless of beliefs, religion or creed, we will be justly rewarded as a result of this accounting;
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That these rewards will be the basis for our states of joy or lack thereof in the hereafter;
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That because of what we neglected to do or should not have done in the here-now, ‘hell’ will be the state of rewards withheld -- of what we could have had, in the hereafter.
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That “what we could have had” need not be if we take good action now.