Not to be morbid, but have you thought about death lately? I’ve had plenty of opportunities to do just that recently, having said good-bye to three close Baha’i friends, a nephew and an admired acquaintance since May. That’s quite a tsunami of death, so there was no way for me to avoid thinking about it, even had I wanted to.
With every funeral or memorial service I attend, the brevity of our lives on this planet strikes me ever more forcefully. When someone reaches their 90s or beyond, we marvel at their longevity, yet how brief a span that is compared to the structures we leave behind. Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is more than 850 years old, while the pyramids at Giza have been in existence for about 4,500 years. In the plant world, giant sequoias routinely live for more than 3,000 years, and in the animal kingdom some deep-sea creatures live for an almost unbelievable 15,000 years. Even our fellow mammal, the bowhead whale, usually lives for about 200 years.
Despite their additional years on the planet, however, I daresay not one of us would trade places with a deep-water sponge or even a whale. Besides the obvious fact that we humans are a higher life form than sponges and whales, the scriptures of the great religions, including Baha’i scripture, tell us that we have been endowed by our creator with something much more desirable than a long earthly life: an immortal soul.
Baha’i teachings explain that one of our most important tasks while on this earth is to develop our soul so we will be prepared for life in the next world (heaven), which is a spiritual, rather than physical realm. We develop our soul by acquiring those attributes that are associated with divinity – attributes such as love, mercy, kindness, justice, knowledge, compassion, creativity and so many others. We all have these latent attributes within but we must make the effort to develop them. If our spiritual qualities remain undeveloped, we will be born handicapped into the next world, just as a baby is born handicapped into this world if it has failed to develop physical characteristics such as sight and hearing, while in the womb.
How shall we go about developing these spiritual qualities? Some ways might include striving to know and love God, immersing yourself in the word, serving others, practicing detachment, refusing to be seduced by the materialism which surrounds us, and bringing yourself to account each day.
Baha’i scripture tells us that we should look forward to death as we would to any journey: “with hope and with expectation.” When we prepare for a journey to another city or state or country, we carefully consider what we will pack, what we will definitely need and what can be left behind. When preparing for the journey to the next world, we know we will be leaving behind all the material things of this world, including our physical bodies. We will have no need of them in the world of spirit. If we have prepared for the journey, our bags will be packed with those attributes which will serve us well as we traverse the worlds of God.
“O Son of the Supreme! I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendor. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?” – Baha’u’llah
Nancy Flood-Golembeck is a retired teacher and longtime member of the Baha’i faith. In addition to serving on the local Baha’i governing body, she is currently writing a memoir.
This article appears in September 10-16, 2026.
