Cebrating the dead: Do they wish we celebrate them and where do I go when I die?

Death is inevitable, but no one prepares for it. We all plan to go to school or get married, and we even go the extra mile of planning our finances. But how many of us actually plan to die? None.

It is said that Ghanaians love the dead more than the living. This stems from the things we do when

Read full articlesomeone dies compared to what we do when that person was alive. We throw big funerals for people whom we watched for them to struggle and die.

So do the dead wish we would celebrate them? The answer is a big no. How do I know? You may ask. As a practicing Christian, my answer comes from the Bible. In Luke 16:27-31, the Lazarus story, the rich man had one request for Abraham: he wanted Lazarus to come back to earth to talk to his brothers to change their lives. One thing the dead may wish for us to do for them is to change our lives and live lives worthy of the creator's desires.

You may say, "I am not a Christian and those Bible verses do not apply to me."

Let me tell you that, immediately someone dies, the things in this world do not matter to them again. That is why a father or mother may die without worrying about what will happen to their children. Those things do not matter to them any longer.

So where will I go when I die?

There is life after death, and most religions agree with this fact. There may be differences in where you will go after death, but the most important thing is that there is a place to go after death.

Traditional believers say the dead go to the world of the dead. The dead may sometimes request sacrifices from their children who are alive. That is why, in some traditions, when a man dies, the son will erect a god in his name and make sacrifices to him from time to time.

Christians say there are two places where one will spend eternity after death: heaven and hell. Heaven is for those who worship the father in truth and obey that Jesus is the one way to the father. Matthew 25:46

"And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Revelation 20:10 tells us all about what happens in hell:

And the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."

Islam teaches that there is life after death, and this is known as Akhirah. They also believe that they will stay in their graves until Yawm al-din, the Day of Judgement, and that those who have performed more good deeds than bad will enter Jannah, or Paradise.

On the other hand, those who have performed more bad deeds than good will enter Jahannam, or Hell. This is a place of physical and spiritual suffering.

So my friend, there is a place to go after death. Prepare yourself as you journey on this earth, because the day you will leave this world for the next one cannot be predicted.