We have heard reports of people who have died
and come back to life
that there is a long tunnel
and a light at the end.

This sounds
exactly the same
as when a child
is being born.

When a child is being born
it goes through a tunnel
and there’s a light at the end.

Death and birth are the same.

They’re simply changes of consciousness.

They are steps from
here
to
there.

The soul does not die.
The soul is a piece of God.

The body is mortal, and decays.

When it is done, we discard it
like last season’s coat.
It no longer serves.
It no longer fits.

The weather is different
in the afterlife,
the other life.

We need shorts, or a skirt, or a sweater.

We have different shoes
for different places we go, too.

Hiking, boating, rafting, work
– all have different shoes.

There?

We need to be barefoot.

This is holy ground.

Except there, we not only
have to get rid of our shoes,
but also our clothes,
but also our bodies.

We have to take it all off.

It is that holy.

Only when nothing separates us,
when nothing is between us
and God
can we really be ourselves
with God.