Death is the great mystery of life, especially for those spiritually inclined, regardless of faith. We’ve all heard one of the prevailing responses, “You’ll meet again in heaven, this is temporary.” No one is sure. In the meanwhile, it’s good policy to seek answers to protect ourselves from perpetual heartbreak after the loss of a loved one such as a mother or worse yet a mother who loses a child; she is alive, they are not, life run backwards. Where does God fit into the equation of life and death? It’s a specific area of philosophy and theology that offers mostly generic answers, unlike scientists and doctors that are more definitive.

We are born, then we die one day, by God’s design, regardless of the pains associated with the process. Should we seek solace? Default to blind acceptance? Tough it out long enough to let the pain wane over time, as it mostly does for most people? Perhaps, but we can also go deep into the rabbit hole and see the mystery of death as the portal to God’s mystery.

We’re inundated to saturation with the attempted emotional uplift from the arts, theologians, healers and the like about death. But their effects are like a balm, soothing for sure, but how well do they correct the shock of life going on after the loss of a loved one? Only true understanding can turn loss into growth. 

It is well and good that Jesus will embrace you and dry your tears as the Christians think, but that’s not understanding only comforting. Or what of the dust-to-dust attitude of the Buddhists; back to the energetic code, recycled for the next time around. The big picture is only part of the process of gaining understanding. The real understanding is had in the specifics of the lost person and those still living, not in the generic explanations, because there is no one-size-fits-all reasoning for what death is (other than the ceasing of living) and what comes after. All living creatures die eventually, but human lives reverberate differently whilst alive and after death; some lives make tsunamis and others make delicate ripples.

There is a mystery, better put, the mysterious. It surrounds us at every moment. Regardless of so-called spiritualists who offer ‘dime store’ techniques to tap into it, likewise zealous theologians who offer their brand of a fix-all brew, the nuts and bolts of life/death are simpler than that, which also makes it harder to grasp. There is no answer. That’s it. We live. We die. We transform.

Embrace the mystery. Relish in the unknown. Seek the divine. The divine reveals herself willingly to those who seek her. There you will find your answers to anything you ask; not immediately, but over time. Not willing to put in the effort, well, accept your lack thereof, it ain’t coming to you otherwise. Make the effort, however, and you just may speak with the dead.

---

©2026 Artist Robert Perez™ | A.R. Perez | All rights reserved