In the inquiry "Where do you go when you die?" I notice how easily I
settle for an
already always
concept
when I get down to I don't really know where I go when I
die. Some of those concepts are classics. Some are beautiful. Some are
just plain off the wall. Some are inspiring. Some, as we all
know, form the foundations of the world's great religions. I'm not
discounting any of them. I'm simply looking ... to see if I can get to
what's so.
Part of the trouble we have with knowing where we're going (in any
sense) is not knowing where we're coming from.
On a trivial level, that's almost obvious. In today's high tech world
where websites like
MapQuest
give you directions, you first enter where you're coming from. If you
don't enter where you're coming from,
MapQuest
can't tell you where to go.
On a more profound level, when I ask "Where do you go when you die?"
it's also prudent to first know where we come from.
"Where we come from".
Unlike what's expected on
MapQuest,
I'm not speaking of the location we started from, and nor am I speaking
of the compass direction we followed to get here. Rather,
I'm teasing out where we come from ie who we really are like
a possibility.
I assert we are our conversations.
In an earlier, health conscious time, it was said "You are what you
eat.". I've also heard it said in a later, wealth conscious time "You
are what you wear.". I would like to propose, instead - for today and
for the future - "You are what you speak.". We are our conversations.
That's how people know us. That's who we are - for ourselves, for
people. Not what you look like. Not your body - that's just
hamburger. We are our conversations. That's how we know people.
That's who people are - for themselves, for us. We are our
conversations. That's where we come from. The people who know
your conversations, know you. That's a possible definition
of "who knows you".
Where you go when you die is into the conversations of the people who
know you - by that definition. I could also say where you go when you
die is into the conversations of the people who love you.
That's nice, but in this
context
it's not required. It doesn't need the choir of angels and the violins.
It's not significant that where you go when you die is into the
conversations of the people who know you. Neither is it meant to be
"the truth". Nor is it intended to replace cherished religious
and spiritual beliefs. Rather, it's simply a place to stand and look.