What do I really believe happens when we die<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was invited to contribute to a feature at Patheos.com called\u00a0 \u201cWhat do I really believe\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The subject in this first feature is the question, \u201cWhat do I\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What do I really believe happens when we die\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I was invited to contribute to a feature at Patheos.com called\u00a0 \u201cWhat do I really believe\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The subject in this first feature is the question, \u201cWhat do I\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"What God Wants for Your Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-09-21T06:40:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Frederick Schmidt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Frederick Schmidt\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/\",\"name\":\"What do I really believe happens when we die\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2010-09-21T06:40:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2010-09-21T06:40:48+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#\/schema\/person\/ddfdcfcb384439499b89f4fc91aa3f21\"},\"description\":\"I was invited to contribute to a feature at Patheos.com called\u00a0 \u201cWhat do I really believe\u2026\u201d\u00a0 The subject in this first feature is the question, \u201cWhat do I\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What do I really believe happens when we die\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/\",\"name\":\"What God Wants for Your Life\",\"description\":\"Thoughts on the perennial demands and changing shape of Christian spirituality.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#\/schema\/person\/ddfdcfcb384439499b89f4fc91aa3f21\",\"name\":\"Frederick Schmidt\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/683afd03c0a0abb940f8fe5cb3183269?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/683afd03c0a0abb940f8fe5cb3183269?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Frederick Schmidt\"},\"description\":\"The Reverend Dr. Frederick W. Schmidt, Jr. is inaugural holder of the Rueben P. Job Chair in Spiritual Formation and a Senior Scholar at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. He is also Vice Rector at Good Shepherd, Brentwood, TN; an Episcopal Priest; spiritual director; retreat facilitator; conference leader; and writer. He is the author of numerous published articles and reviews, as well as several books: A Still Small Voice: Women, Ordination and the Church (Syracuse University Press, 1998), The Changing Face of God (Morehouse, 2000), When Suffering Persists (Morehouse, 2001), in Italian translation: Sofferenza, All ricerca di una riposta (Torino: Claudiana, 2004), What God Wants for Your Life \ufeff(Harper, 2005), Conversations with Scripture: Revelation (Morehouse, 2005), \ufeffConversations with Scripture: Luke \ufeff(Morehouse, 2009), and The Dave Test (Abingdon, 2013). He and his wife, Natalie (who is also an Episcopal priest), live in Arrington, TN. 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{"id":65,"date":"2010-09-21T06:40:48","date_gmt":"2010-09-21T06:40:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/experts.patheos.com\/expert\/frederickwschmidt\/2010\/09\/21\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/"},"modified":"2010-09-21T06:40:48","modified_gmt":"2010-09-21T06:40:48","slug":"what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/whatgodwantsforyourlife\/2010\/09\/what-do-i-really-believe-happens-when-we-die\/","title":{"rendered":"What do I really believe happens when we die"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

It isn\u2019t a trivial question, nor is it purely academic.\u00a0 The way any story ends decisively shapes what we make of everything that led up to the end; and the same is true of life.\u00a0 And, while we don\u2019t know<\/em> in one sense what will happen, nor does anyone know in detail (how could you?), like any other set of choices, what we believe <\/em>happens when we die, makes a huge difference in the way we live.<\/p>\n

Put another way: The end may not justify the means, but it certainly shapes our choice of means.<\/p>\n

So, you will find my contribution at:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/Resources\/Additional-Resources\/Frederick-W-Schmidt-Afterlife.html<\/a><\/p>\n

And the front page of the feature at:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/Resources\/Additional-Resources\/Frederick-W-Schmidt-Afterlife.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Join the conversation.\u00a0 It is important to know what you believe about the way your own story ends.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"