The After-Life of  President Ronald Reagan

He and God Discuss It in a Dream of Mine

Written by Raymond Fontaine, PhD - June 2004

     Last Friday, June 11, like millions of Americans glued to the TV, I watched the funeral services of President Ronald Reagan. In the morning, dignitaries gathered in Washington's Cathedral and listened to eulogies of the President and to hymns about his new home in heaven. Later, as the sun set over the Pacific, the President's daughter and sons paid a heartfelt tribute to their dad. The preacher assured the family and friends that the President had reached his heavenly home and kissed the face of God. Later the President's beloved wife, Nancy, caressed the covered casket and departed heartbroken.

   When I retired that evening, the words of the hymn "Amazing Grace" lingered in my mind. It said, "I shall possess a life of joy and peace - bright shining as the sun." Those comforting words soon induced a dream about God conversing with the President.

   "Greetings, Ronald," said God, "congratulations for your life on earth and welcome into your after-life."

   "Thank you, my Lord," said the President, "but could you please turn on the lights. I can't see you."

   "Even in the Bible," God explained, "no one ever saw me - not even Adam and Eve, nor Abraham and Moses. They just heard my voice as you're doing now."

   "But what about the angels and the saints, my deceased family members and friends? Where are they?"

   "You can't see or hear them," God said, "because they are not here and never will be, regardless of what the Bible and the hymns proclaim and what painters like Michelangelo portray."

   "Are you saying, my Lord," asked Reagan, "that, after death, there is no after-life for any of your creatures, not even for humans?"

   "Right," God answered, "after dying, humans don't live anymore nor anywhere - except in the memory of people still living on earth.  You know that you will live in the mind and heart of Nancy as long as she lives. Likewise, you will live in the minds and hearts not only of family members and friends but of many who will get to know you and admire you. As long as people remember your deeds and words, you will live in their minds and hearts."

    "How long can this go on," asked the President, "indefinitely?"

    "Yes," God replied. "Aesop, who lived 2600 years ago, is still remembered because children and their parents continue to read his fables in libraries. Likewise for you, Ronald, as long as your presidential library endures with readers, so will your after-life." 

    "That's comforting to know," said the President "especially that I'll be able to inspire people for centuries, perhaps millenniums."

    "But not for all eternity," said God. "When the sun stops burning and the earth freezes over, your after-life will end as well as the lives and after-lives of all earthlings."

    '' You will be left alone, my Lord," the President remarked. "Won't you be lonely?"

    "Not likely," God said. "If that should happen, I can always create another world where life abounds."

    "Before you go," the President said, "thank you for disillusioning me about the glorious after-life in heaven. I accept the only after-life available to humans - that of living in the minds and hearts of people inspired by my deeds and words. That living memorial beats my library building and tombstone. Adios, my Lord."

    At that moment, I awoke heartened by the realization that, after death, I can live on for generations. The endurance of my after-life, its significance and quality depend on ME here and now. I can make it better by enlightening more and more people about Nature's God. I can help to disillusion them of false doctrines related to God and his angels, heaven and hell, prayers and pilgrimages for miracles and favors. I can help them to better their lives and that of their fellow-humans. In doing so, I will also improve the significance and value not only of my present life but also of my after-life.

    "Amen to that," said my wife, Minh. "Keep publishing on the Internet which is your library and that of every person on earth. There, you can enlighten and inspire millions through the years. What a wonderful after-life for someone like you!" For the index of my Dialogues, click here.