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For me, I believe in the afterlife, it just doesn’t include me! 🙃🤣 And I have faith that what I do now impacts what happens then. As for the great unknown “why?” I don’t need know nor do I embrace any version of a deity or afterlife involving me.

I was raised in faith (a Catholic altar boy, I wore the robes & everything). I walked away from it partly because a “heaven/hell” binary doesn’t sit well w me (the “hell” part is a guilt-trap). I lean a lot more toward Buddhist mindsets these days. Karma. We create our own heaven/hell here on 🌍.

One of the common beliefs in Judaism is that the Moshiach/Messiah will not show up into an unready world, but arrive in a world where we've fixed it already. Not a savior, really, just an indication that we've saved ourselves.

Someone said we are God’s hands in this world. If that’s true, what I’ve witnessed is God working through people to show love and kindness and striving to make this a better world. Protestors, legal observers, people delivering groceries, donating food and funds… That’s heavenly work.

In scripture, don’t remember exactly where, Jesus says a few times that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Many read that as the promise of Jesus’ “return,” but a biblical scholar I heard once said it could be read “if you do what we do together here, the kingdom of God is right here in our midst.”

… meaning a sort of divine person or being. But he added that it didn’t mean not believing in the “divine,” which frankly isn’t that hard to have experiences of with some practice in whichever tradition. So the message was, don’t discount that direct experience over an idea that doesn’t fit it.

Empathy, compassion and fellowship. Attributes that Jesus had and taught.