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Permalink Reply by Joe Swam on July 10, 2011 at 9:14am

Not believing in that "happy hunting ground in the sky" forces me to really cherish and enjoy the time that I get to spend with friends and family. When a loved one passes, I hold on to those memories...and in a sense, those memories allow them to live on. It's a very emotional time and I try also to be respectful of those who believe in an afterlife. It's not easy for any of us.

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Permalink Reply by John J Kelly on April 11, 2012 at 1:49pm

I had my belief structure (Is that what we have? . . . Nah!) tested at my parents' funerals.  We were a "good" Catholic family and I was the first to excuse myself from religious practice in our extended family.

I didn't take communion at either funeral and several of the extended family members quit talking to me. I did serve as a pallbearer in both funerals and for other family members - okay enough for them to let me do the heavy lifting.

I went to Catholic schools through high school graduation.  I was exposed to a maelstrom of religious beliefs when I went into the Air Force.  I had been a skeptic for some time before but that exposure made me start thinking on a different level.  I was also exposed to Buddhist beliefs while in Viet Nam. I also met people who were atheist and of other religious belief systems. I've been agnostic/atheist for 50 years, now.

I do respect others' beliefs but I also believe that I have a right to my beliefs. Telling someone what I believe can be tantamount to yelling "fire" in a crowded theatre so I'm mindful of who I am talking to. I tried becoming Catholic, again, after I left the Air Force but that was impossible. I would have had to suspend all that I had learned in the interim and I would only have been trying to fool myself.

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Permalink Reply by Napoleon Bonaparte on April 11, 2012 at 2:22pm

I wear a grey suit with black tie and keep my head down.

At the last funeral there was a seated obese women whom I kindly asked if I could pass so that I could sit down. I didn't realize she was praying and her God didn't like it by her facial expression. I didn't intentionally annoy her but nonetheless will be more careful when inside churches in the future.

I was the last friend to see Tim alive and we shared a smoke outside the Chelsea and Westminster hospital in the late evening and I enjoyed his company, as usual.

He was a true friend.

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