Emerson once wrote words that sound almost like an invitation to death: And now my chains are to be broken; I shall mount above these clouds and opaque airs in which I live ... Life will no more be a noise; this day shall be better than my birthday; for then I became an animal; now I am invited into the (experience) of the real. - The Poet

Recently a college student wrote me, "I think it is probable that the death of the body implies the total cessation of being." This fear is not only a problem for college students, but for most of us. He continued, "But it isn’t impossible that God acts ... in a mysterious fashion at death."

He is, now, catching a glimpse of reality beyond the limitations of our earthly life. He continues, "St. John tells us that the advent of the Holy Spirit into the …