Lost and Found

I am one of those people that stayed up to watch the series finale of LOST.  I watched the pre-show with my sister for a while, then we ran to the store to get wine gums, popcorn and Fresca, then came back in time to watch the whole episode.  Along with approximately 45 minutes of commercials. Once the episode was finished, I was exhausted, but I slept very poorly last night.

As a true hardcore LOST fan, I was expecting a lot from this episode, but also not knowing what to expect.  I was not disappointed.  I did NOT see it coming that the flash-sideways world was purgatory (since I am Catholic, I will use the RC word), nor did I expect their reunion to be post-mortem.  But it all made sense: live together, die together.  In death, regardless of when they died (I loved the line Christian Shepperd used: in this place, there is no now; only here) they were all reunited in the afterlife and felt whole. They had spent their lives feeling lost, and in death, they found themselves in their connections to each other.

I have often pondered the afterlife, especially when my father died and in the events since then.  I have wondered whether I will recognize my dad when I see him again. I wonder what we will look like in heaven: if I die an old lady, will I be an old lady forever in the afterlife?  Will I return to my younger self? What will I do there? Who will I spend eternity with?  Will my dad be waiting for my mom, or will she be waiting for my step-dad?

It is said that our heavenly bodies will not resemble our earthly bodies, but we will recognize each other by our souls.  LOST was the same.  They needed to touch each other and feel each other to recognize their loved ones and make the connection. I have developed my own theology on afterlife, that we return to the person and entourage that we had when we were most happy, when we felt most purposeful.  Until one has lived their entire life, you cannot know the answers to these questions.  My period of happiness may have already occurred, or it may not happen for another 40 years. I may lose significant people in my life (again) that change my entire reality that shapes the soul within. I may yet meet people that will drastically alter my outlook on life, and that could change my afterlife.

Despite all my questions and uncertainty, there is one thing that I am sure of: that I will meet my Maker and that he/she will make a place for me in which I will be at peace. I just have to have faith that I will be with the ones who matter most to me, those whom I love. That I will be FOUND.

And I do have faith.