What I Was Taught

In the “Christian” faith we are taught there is no such thing as reincarnation. I have never doubted it, but there is a lot about life I don’t understand. I don’t understand myself as a human. I don’t understand my purpose for being. I am not even sure if I am supposed to have a purpose for that matter. And I’m not afraid to admit I do have doubts, especially about death.

I have always believed that there Is God. And since I was around 23 or 24 I have believed that it is possible to know God. I am now in my 50’s and I don’t know if I understand any more about God than I did when I first began.

What I still believe is that God created the universe, the stars, the planets, this earth, and the people, and all life that is here. What I am not sure about is the nature of man. It seems to make sense that we are spiritual creatures with a nature that is eternal. But we are evil. We seem to be sooo evil. We hurt and kill one another. It has been at least several thousands of years that I know about, and we are still killing and hurting one another.

At this point, I still believe that the God who created this place and these people is still alive. I believe he himself did incarnate as a human and allowed himself to be born here. I don’t understand his purpose in doing so. I do believe what is written in scripture, that He came here for us, to save us; from sin and ourselves. I believe he appeared here as the man Jesus. He allowed himself to be killed; a very brutal and merciless death on a Roman cross. I believe He is the center all things.

What strengthened my faith in the beginning

It is said by those who were his followers that he rose from the dead 3 days later and that he ascended to heaven some 50 days later. Another follower of Jesus (after his ascension) was Saul, who later became Paul, a man who was dead set against the movement of believers who followed Jesus. He had a conversion experience while traveling on the road to Damascus. He says he encountered the risen Jesus and experienced a light so bright that he lost his sight. After some days of being blind, he was sent by Jesus to a man named Ananias, that the man might pray for him. And after the prayer, Saul received his sight.

I mention Paul because he was a man who set himself against Jesus and those who believed in Him. Paul is important to me because he lived during time Christ was alive on one earth, yet he did not believe he was the Messiah. However, after his conversion, he abandoned his previous life to live and preach Jesus as the risen Christ whom God had sent to save the world. This is a man who had everything. He was among the religious elite, a Pharisee. Being a follower of Christ was an extremely dangerous thing in his day. His willingness to give up the life he had is to me strong evidence as to who Jesus is.

Nowadays, I don’t need Paul as a witness for my faith. I have had many instances in my life with the Lord that strengthen my own faith in the Lord. But as I said, there are many things I still don’t understand.

Why am I Wondering about Reincarnation?

The reason for the title is a dream I had recently. In the dream, I was someone else, in another time, in a place I had never seen before in this life. I was pulling some sort of cart. It was night time. There was no electricity. I saw no street lamps. It was me, but I was not Tony Tate. I was running from something or someone. I was with another person, but I lost them, or they ran away. Then I woke up.

That’s all I remember, but, I had a strong feeling I had lived some other life. The Bible doesn’t say anything about reincarnation (that I know of). I don’t want reincarnation to be a thing. It IS a thing in so many other religions. I don’t want it to be a thing because after this life I don’t ever want to come back here. There is too much heartache, people suffering, meanness, evil, inequality, poverty, suffering children, and more. The list goes on.

I will always believe that Jesus Christ is who he claims to be, the Son of God in the flesh. I still believe God is the Father, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. I believe they created the universe, the animals, fish, birds and all the people of this planet. And if there is life on other planets, They created that life also.

I will always believe in God. However, I don’t think we have Him all figured out, nor do I believe we fully understand what this life is, or how things work. I don’t know if reincarnation IS a thing. I just know that I don’t want it to be a thing, and my reasons are purely selfish. I have had enough of life here in this world, and I don’t want to come back.

However, what if we are the same souls who keep coming back here over and over, and, instead of having to learn how to be better people to get a better station in the next life, we are here learning better how to live together as one people? What if the Lord sends us back over and over to help move the kingdom of God forward in the earth?

Conclusion

I don’t know the answers to all of my “what ifs.” I am clearly speculating here. I am not a theologian or a teacher. I am of no importance to anyone, except maybe the Lord and my family. I am not saying I believe in reincarnation. I’m not sure about it though.

Life here is not about our religion. For sure, no religion has got it all sorted out. It is, however, very important to try to know the one God who started it all and still controls it all, and who thought it was of high enough value to incarnate himself as one of us. He has shown us great love, forgiveness, and grace, and is working 24/7 to make us into a people and family for Himself. I have faith in Him. And I find that it takes only a quiet moment of meditation in the Spirit to know how much how he loves me, supports me, and wants me to be comforted, and to understand enough to keep going. For now, that is enough. It will have to be.