"....but how nice it would be, to be wrong."

I'd thought about doing a blog for quite some time but lacked courage, for one thing, to take it on.  Did I have anything to say, that would be worth anyone's while, to spend a bit reading?  I'd made a few decisions....5 blogs a week.  Mon-Fri.  posted at 1am, so no one had to wait to peek at a new posting.  Then I decided to read a lot of blogs to see what others blogged about. The majority were personal journaling blogs.   When you start reading blogs you can just keep on clicking and find more and more and more.  I read lots of blogs but early on I happened on a blog (and oh, my!  How I wish I knew which one it was) that was so stark that I copied two paragraphs to just mull over.   Here are those 2 paragraphs....

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the blogger Derek wrote...

What was at the end

I haven't gone to a better place, or a worse one. I haven't gone anyplace, because Derek doesn't exist anymore. As soon as my body stopped functioning, and the neurons in my brain ceased firing, I made a remarkable transformation: from a living organism to a corpse, like a flower or a mouse that didn't make it through a particularly frosty night. The evidence is clear that once I died, it was over.
So I was unafraid of death—of the moment itself—and of what came afterwards, which was (and is) nothing. As I did all along, I remained somewhat afraid of the process of dying, of increasing weakness and fatigue, of pain, of becoming less and less of myself as I got there. I was lucky that my mental faculties were mostly unaffected over the months and years before the end, and there was no sign of cancer in my brain—as far as I or anyone else knew.

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Here is what the reader wrote...

I never knew Derek personally, only through his postings and the odd comment on Twitter. My thoughts are with his Wife, children and family. I'm sure I'm not the only one who will miss his updates and views on life, but at least the pain and suffering is over. I too am not a religious man and my view on the afterlife are pretty much the same as Derek's, but how nice it would be, to be wrong. 

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 These 2 lines, from the blog, have stayed in my mind.

Derek the blogger-....So I was unafraid of death—of the moment itself—and of what came afterwards, which was (and is) nothing....

A reader of Derek's blog-.....I too am not a religious man and my view on the afterlife are pretty much the same as Derek's, but how nice it would be, to be wrong. ...

(I wish I'd sent a note to Derek's reader about our LDS belief about life after death and my testimony of that doctrine. And let him know he is wrong and there is hope. Maybe I could have helped Derek's wife and his children. I have no idea how to find that blog. At the time I read the blog I felt like I'd accidently opened up someone's private mail so responding was not uppermost in my mind.)

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In early July a wonderful young father, active member in the Church, sat down to watch TV and died. What a different scenario compared to the blog experience I read about. His RSP shared this with me....

Mark C. (he used to be on the high council, not sure if you know him, a lawyer working out of Sunnyside) was 'found unresponsive' at home last Thursday. An autopsy said he died from a brain aneurysm (at least that is what I heard yesterday). He was 34. His wife and 5 children (oldest is 11. the youngest turns 1 in a few weeks) were in UT visiting family, he had returned for work and was going back to drive home with them today. Such a shock to all of us here. In talking to his wife Brooke she has been so blessed with the spirit and really feels his presence comforting and guiding her. She has an amazing family and while this is difficult beyond words says, through her tears, that she knows it will all work out. The Lords plan is real, even when we can't see the bigger picture. Wow!

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As a girl, my previous faith, had no such teachings or information about life after death. I was afraid of my own death but most especially of my parents and sister dying. I left my Baptist Church, over them telling me- there are no families in Heaven therefore when one of us died it was over forever. Because of those teachings I lived in fear of dying and when I married and had children that fear grew into nightmares.  Can you even begin to imagine the feelings in my heart when I heard the Gospel message?????!!!!
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Within the Gospel I find solace and answers to all the basic questions of life.  Astounding to me is the amount of information we have about death and what happens after death.  I am strengthened by the fact we have an appointed time to die.  True we can hasten it by poor choices but President Kimball, a former Prophet, says we can seldom extend life.  I am strengthened by the fact there are scriptures that tell us where we go after death.  I am strengthened by the fact that we have scriptures that give us a glimpse into the Spirit world activity.  I believe all these things.  I take great comfort in all of this doctrine. 

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"We can shorten our lives, but I think we cannot lengthen them very much."
                                                           President Kimball  "Tragedy or Destiny" 1955

Treat yourself to a reading of Section 138 in the Doctrine and Covenants.  Amazing reading!!!

Don't miss reading Alma Chapter 40 in the Book of Mormon.

These references are just the tip of the iceberg!  There are beautiful conference talks about death and the Resurrection.  Check them out!!!