“They’re baaaaack”… . All the spooks, skeletons, monsters, fairies, pirates, and ballerinas, readying for All Hallows Eve, to run from door to door, ringing the bell, gathering their treasure, and then racing ahead before their magical evening ends. So it seems completely appropriate to approach the topics of both death and spirituality.

For each and every one of us, neither physical death nor spirituality are completely unavoidable, but incongruently for too many of us, both are ignored as though they never existed, even when we’re standing at death’s door.

Entering into a conversation about death, for many people, is seen as the big taboo, refusing to even allow ourselves to think about it, let alone talk about it in polite conversation. We act as though we’re immortal and that death somehow only “happens” to someone else, or it’s something that will happen to us only after we live to be “a ripe old age.”

But inevitably, young or old, through health or through tragic circumstance, we’re all eventually faced with the unavoidable prospect of our own death—and most will also face the passing of someone we know or love.

And in this eventuality there will inexorably be a moment for each person to take pause and wonder, “Is this all there is? What waits for us beyond this life, beyond this incarnation? Is there a God? Will we inevitably find ourselves standing in the no man’s land between the gates of heaven and the edge of a hell’s fiery abyss, with a stiff wind at our back awaiting judgment? Does life continue beyond what we know it to be? Is there anything at all or does life just end for us at the moment of physical death? Will there be anyone to meet us we cross over?”

Without exception, these and other questions will be answered.

Sadly though, for many of us the questions of our spirituality, and not just our religious beliefs, remain unanswered until the moment that we’re faced with our own mortality—or vicariously, the terminal illness and death of a friend, loved one, or even that of a complete stranger. It touches us on an unequaled emotional level, bringing with it, regardless of our own beliefs, a time of mourning or period of grief, if due to nothing else then from a sense of a personal loss.

From somewhere in midst of our pain we seek some tangible peace and comfort that promises us the provisional release frequently experienced in one’s own personal religious and or spiritual belief system. We yearn for something in addition to the passing of time that mercifully brings with it the return of routine and a sense of normalcy.

Tragically for others there is an inescapable void that nothing could ever fill, and for others, because of their own spiritual doubts, there seems to be no inner peace until they can bring themselves to understand what has become of their loved one who has passed.

As a metaphysical minister and medium, individuals as often approach me, not out of believing, but out of desperation or out of fear and grief. They look for me to provide comfort and reassurance by opening myself to spirit and relaying, to the best of my ability, messages that spirit wants to impart to their loved ones on this side of the veil.

Their release rests on both the hope and fear of the answers to their questions. “Are they really gone? Is it over? Are they OK? Where have they gone? Are they still here? Can I talk to them?” It’s even more common for someone to express, “I want so much to believe, but I just can’t be sure. Please tell them that I miss them and love them.” This is usually followed with a reassuring answer of love and or forgiveness from spirit that is validated by something that only the individual asking the question would understand.

How I’d respond to anyone with such feelings of un-clarity or un-sureness, or even doubt, is what I want to convey to you as the reader of this article. No one can irrefutably prove to you that life does continue and that there is no death any more than they can prove to you there is a God. It’s up to you to reconcile this question for yourself. Only you can choose to believe or not to believe.

So this article is written for those who seek to understand and as a reassurance for those who already believe.

Rev. Steven McClain is Pastor of the New River Valley Metaphysical Chapel in Radford.