I think there was a book by this name- or close to it- published a few years back…or maybe it was a movie. Regardless, I think about that question now and then, perhaps we all do.

When I read something that prompts me to consider this possibility ( CS Lewis is almost always my catalyst, more on why in a moment), I get stuck on a few details.

Like these:

1. Will I get there?
2. If and when I do, will there be a recognizable I…?
3. Will who I was while here, what I did and what I thought be accessible to me…or even relevant any longer?

As Christian Catholics, we are taught that all of this is possible.

We will shortly enter into Lent, Easter and Pentecost. The last of these holy seasons in the Christian Liturgy teaching us that Christ appeared many times after His Passion and death. And that more than a few times, He ate with His apostles. Even telling them that He “was hungry.”

The  B U T remains, however, (in cases like this one, the acronym behold the underlying truth fits all too well: Does this apply to me? Is this possible for me?

I suspect that I am not alone in these questions, these doubts and for me, there are no simple formulas, prayers or devotions to provide facile answers. Mostly, I am coming to understand this is because we lack the words, the language to even begin a discussion. But then again, maybe not–He is pretty clear that this is all about faith.

Why is my catalyst for these thoughts almost always CS Lewis?

Although he has been dead a long time, I find his writings to be alive. And there is a connection between him and me which seems close to tangible when I read a well worn book I was given years ago: A Year With CS Lewis.

Here is the reading for yesterday:

Second -Guessing God’s Wisdom

Of course God knew what would happen if they [creatures with free will] used their freedom the wrong way; apparently, He thought it worth the risk. Perhaps we feel inclined to disagree with Him. But there is a difficulty about disagreeing with God.  He is the source from which all your reasoning power comes: you could not be right and He wrong any more than a stream can rise higher than its own source. When you are arguing with Him, you are arguing against the very power that makes you able to argue at all: it is like cutting off the very branch you are sitting on. If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will–that is for making a live world in which creatures can do real good or real harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings–then we may take it it is worth paying.

–From Mere Christianity

I hope I meet CS Lewis in heaven.