Journal 19: Importance of nature and spirituality in the cycle of life and death

I think that spirituality has a lot to do with the cycle of life and death. With differences in religion, people have different beliefs in what happens to you and your soul when you die. Most (if not all) religions have an opinion about what happens after your terrestrial being dies. I believe that my soul will go to heaven or hell depending on my actions during my time on Earth. Some religions think that God has already decided if you are going to heaven or hell before you are born, but I do not think that is the case. I think that your actions on Earth can affect your fate after death. As William Cullen Bryant said in Thanatopsis, your dead body is buried in the ground to become one with nature. This shows that Nature is indeed important in the cycle of life and death. Because of my spiritual beliefs, I do think that spirituality is important in the cycle of life and death because you have to obey the words of God in order to go to heaven. People who do not have a relationship with God probably think that nature really has an important role in the cycle because they probably believe that your body and soul are going to be laid to rest in the soil for the rest of time. I remember learning about a certain religion in which there really is a cycle of life and death. Everyone on that religion does believe that they are going to keep dying and being born again. Personally, I think that would get really boring after a while, but some people truly believe that that is what is going to happen. Nature and spirituality play a huge role in the cycle of life and death because they are the two components of each individual’s beliefs. People base their beliefs of life after death on their spirituality and the ways of nature.