Why Care About Life After Death?

One of the enduring mysteries of life is death. Why is it that we care about what happens after we die? Is it that the thought of just a short span on Earth is not enough for us? That we hunger for life so much that we want it to continue even if we have to imagine some other form for it to continue in?

Is it that we would like to have an opportunity to have a better life next time around? Is it that we would rather be someone else? Is it that we want to feel that life is fair and that there is justice and that somehow the good will be rewarded and the bad will be punished?

Conce
s about what happens after death is a central conce
of many religions. Everyone wants to have a happy ending in some beautiful garden.

How does that influence our behavior in this lifetime? Does it inspire us to act more lovingly, compassionately and kindly while we are here? In some cases, yes. In some cases, no.

Do we care because we feel a need to make sense out of the fact that some people die as children before they really have a chance to live much? Or we try to make sense of the fact that some people who are brilliant and created remarkable things died before they reached even greater levels of achievement.

What would be different, what would we do different, if we knew for sure that we only had one life, this life on Earth, and that when it was over, there was no further life for us?

The only real reports we have ever had from beyond death are the reports of near death experiences. Those people relate tales of traveling through a tunnel of light and being greeted by friends and relatives who have already crossed over. Of course, we don't get much beyond that because all those authors returned.

Do we keep reinca
ating until we learn the important life lessons? Or do we just get one life and then get judged and sent to some permanent residence elsewhere? Why do we keep making up all these stories?