A Hereafter?

I find attitudes to a presumed hereafter very strange. The fictional character with whom I identify on this issue is Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry. Visiting the Cathedral where his murdered fiancee lies in state awaiting burial, Flandry inwardly addresses her, recalls that she believed in survival and asks her for a sign but does not believe that he receives one. What he does hear is a priest's voice praying in the background and, for some, that would suffice.

SM Stirling's Wiccan characters take for granted that a murdered member of their Clan is now in the Summerlands with her husband who had gone there before her. This is not something to take for granted.

I have Spiritualist friends who accept that mediumship, like mobile phones, is a way to communicate with family members who are not here right now. I know lots of people who assume reincarnation because it "makes sense." Does it? Was the universe designed for our spiritual benefit?

A Mormon missionary advised me to ask God in the name of his Son for the truth on religious matters so I did. The result of that conversation is between me and "God," of course. But I still seek a better understanding of certain issues.