Where Do We Go When We Die?

Where do we go when we die? Where does the soul journey? Where does the spirit reside? One thing is certain: the body remains.

This shell, this physical form, is left behind. It may be buried in the earth or sea, cremated, or otherwise returned to nature. Some remnants might be preserved in a mausoleum, an urn, or even kept as a keepsake, close to a loved one. Some personal belongings are kept and shared. These physical tokens serve as a tangible connection to those we've lost — a reminder of what once was.

The reminders we hold onto come to symbolize our loved ones — they are attempts to maintain a physical connection to the past. But where is that beloved person? The memories of those we've lost are replayed like songs, rewound and revisited — a mental archive that allows us to relive moments again and again. Just as we might rewatch a favorite scene in a movie or listen to a beloved melody, we return to these memories, sometimes finding new meaning or comfort in them.

Recently, my dear brother Colin passed away peacefully in his sleep, a gentle smile on his face. Someone who had been part of my entire life was suddenly gone, no longer physically present. It's difficult to imagine a future without him. Yet, I remind myself that he remains with us through our memories, even if we can no longer see or touch him.

The mind has a remarkable way of protecting us, even as we endure deep, sometimes unbearable sadness. The loss has created a profound emptiness, a pain that penetrates the soul. Through my quiet time with God, through my prayer practices, and God’s grace and mercy, I am able to endure this time of grief.

When our love for the deceased is so immense, and the sense of loss so overwhelming, how do we heal? How do we move forward? At Colin's wake, friends and family gathered to share stories of how he touched their lives. People, from all walks of life, cultures and faiths, spanning his childhood to his adulthood, spoke of how he made them feel seen and heard.

We often touch others in ways we do not fully realize — through our attention, our kindness, our deeds and our reflection of God's goodness. Being with those Colin touched, hearing their memories of him and sharing my own gave us all solace.

I also got to know my brother better. Hearing about how he connected with other people and how they felt about him, showed me another side of him — a side I was grateful to know at the time I missed him most.

We live out God's ministry in our daily lives, in our daily interactions, and in how we treat others. When we interact with others and touch lives, we share a part of us that remains with them.

Where do we go when we die? We’re never sure but what if, when we die, our love, like scattered ashes, spreads into the world? What if the love we held for the deceased and the love they had for us is dispersed through acts of kindness and goodness? And what if these remnants of love remain within us, so that our loved ones continue to live on in our hearts, in our memories, and in the lessons they taught us?

Perhaps we never truly die because we become part of one another — by the divine presence within us all. In this sense, what is death? It is not an end, but a continuation of life. We live on in the hearts of those we touched and then through those they touch, and so on till the end of time.

Simone Talma Flowers serves as the executive director of Interfaith Action of Central Texas, an organization that brings people of all faiths and cultures together to cultivate peace and respect. Doing Good Together is compiled by Interfaith Action of Central Texas, interfaithtexas.org.