But illusion or not, art offers about the only chance a man has of imitating the Creator, other than in raising a family. And what do you do with your ability to create little things? Do you use your ability to praise the Creator, or to insult Him? You can hardly insult Him more than by saying He does not exist? And if you insult Him, what is going to happen when you die?
If the world of the mind and spirit is real, and the mind can create up to a point; if in any subject, theory never measures up to reality as experienced by men; if Clausewitz is right that this is particularly so in War, where due to the friction of war, everything falls short of your expectations, and it requires enormous determination in a commander to get his plans executed; it follows as night follows day that there probably is a world after death. This world of unending struggle and suffering only makes sense if it is worthwhile to sacrifice yourself for others. Worth dying that others may live. In a mechanical world that is meaningless. And it is a more credible speculation that this world we all know, has meaning, rather than it does not. So what will it be like, this world after death? Ironically the suicide bomber, murderous thug though he is to many, must surely ask himself this question? If he does, why do not we?
The moment you admit that two minds can interpenetrate, that you can see things through the eyes of others if you have enough sympathy, then the world of the spirit becomes just another world to explore, like the world we all see, feel and hear. And if the intangible world is as real to you as the tangible, then it is elementary to ask where death fits into the picture. It ceases to be something you get morbid about. This is not to deny that the moment of death of a loved one, is a moment of bereavement. The spirit which was there a moment before, however frail and helpless, has gone. Gone perhaps to a world of light, but we are left lingering here, and have to make the best of it. And nobody around nowadays knows very much about the next world. Events do cast a shadow in front of them. I knew whether a prosecution was likely to succeed; and generally I was right, provided I worked hard at it. Animals know when they are going to die; small pets retreat to a corner of the garden to be alone. They know. Sometimes events cast a more dramatic shadow; and you know something will happen shortly which is fraught with danger. Jesus must have known pretty well what was to take place, before he took his disciples up the mountain for the transfiguration. But there is no-one around nowadays who knows much about the world beyond death. And I myself prefer not to speculate, when the subject is obviously beyond my competence.
I can point out that Socrates and Jesus were firmly agreed that your fate in the next world was likely to be decided by your choices in this; but hardly comment on their opinion. So what am I saying? Simply that we must all now view life as a whole, now that we have the ability to do so.