The only alternative most people see is an effort to stretch out this material life a little longer. A giant amount of society’s resources and energy goes into this effort. But finally it turns out not to be a true substitute. Some see it more as a delaying tactic that doesn’t mean much in the context of centuries.
There is an actual alternative to death, but you won’t hear about it on the local news. It’s unlikely there will be sermons about it in neighborhood religious gatherings. Why? Two obvious reasons come to mind.
First, the alternative is too simple. And, second, it’s too costly. Christ Jesus taught that the pathway into the kingdom of heaven, which is right at hand, is through a childlike quality of thought. We live in a world where too many adults don’t adequately value for themselves the humility, purity, and simplicity of a child’s thought. And yes, the cost of giving up materiality for spirituality is just too often “unaffordable” in a world that prizes a material over a spiritual view of reality.
