An old friend of mine has passed away.

[MightyAstro]

My condolences, Shiyonasan; my own dad will be buried tomorrow.

I'm very sorry for you Shiyonasan and Jeffbert.

And Jeffbert. I'm sure Shiyonasan doesn't mind you mentioning your own loss. We're all here to be a support to our entire forum community.

[Fuzzy Pickles!]

*sigh*

As someone who is a non-Christian, the fact that my great-grandmother died recently has me worried. Not for what she has done, but if there is even an afterlife.

I for one do not believe that the Bible is true, but I believe that a supreme being rules this world. Since I believe that we know nothing about it (literally), I then wonder if there is even an afterlife. My great-grandmother was a great person, so the thought that she may not have an afterlife concerns me.

That said, my thoughts goes out to jeffbert and Shiynonasan for their losses. As someone who has lost a few friends, I can understand their pain.

[1magus]

I'm sorry too but I bet the person who did it if it was an accident is just as shaken up I know I would be. Having to live with that for the rest of their lives would be awful .

[AprilSeven]

Jeffbert - my bad for not keeping up with this thread - I'm so sorry to hear about your father (as if on cue, Faure's "In Paradisium" just came on the classical music station I listen to -- and YES i believe it was a little Divine intervention to send a message of 'everything is fine' message to you and your mom)

[jeffbert]

astarisborn94, I too, find no reason to believe in an afterlife, but I was hesitant to say so, for fear of inviting a rather heated discussion. Being agnostic, I have been able to view the BIBLE in a new light, such that I can see metaphors where others see history. Well, having viewed a bunch of Joseph Campbell's lectures on VHS, I had begun to wonder about the historicity of many Bible stories long before actually becoming agnostic.

But, as I had been a Christian for many years, I, in retrospect do not consider my former self as being duped, but only naturally having believed whatever the authority figures had told me. So, while I am now a skeptic, I understand why many believe.

I hope this will avoid the heated argument about religion.

[Shiyonasan]

I think I have mentioned it once before on here, but I am a born-again Christian. The guy who died in the accident was also a Christian himself. I do respect you guys very much and my thoughts and prayers are with you guys for the deaths in your own families, regardless of what you believe. I will say though that I do personally believe in the afterlife. I won't take that discussion any further in this thread though.

Anyway, thanks to everybody for their kind words. I am not sad anymore, but I do think about him occasionally.

My condolences for your loss Shiyonasan. I hope you are coping relatively well with this new grief. My thoughts are with you, and also his parents. The only worse thing than losing the person who carried you for nine months is losing your child. I couldn't even imagine. No one should have to go through that.

Thanks, Novacain. Along with his parents, he also has a younger brother that was born about five years after he was. When I saw him, he seemed to be okay. We can never know a person's internal feelings though.

Thanks, guys.

Shiyonasan: sorry for intruding upon your thread.

And Jeffbert. I'm sure Shiyonasan doesn't mind you mentioning your own loss. We're all here to be a support to our entire forum community.

Don't worry about it jeffbert. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.

As MightyAstro said, I don't really mind. It seems a lot of us on this forum have dealt with death and it doesn't hurt to share your own story regarding this subject. We're all here for you.

[AprilSeven]

Shiyonasan, you are an inspiring, classy guy, and I'm so glad you are a member of this forum.