What happens after we die? It’s an unanswered question of life, and that’s because no one has told us yet. All those who parted from us in death never returned from their graves to explain to us exactly what to expect when we leave this Earth. The one who came closest to telling us what it looks like over there – Okomfo Anokye – did not return before the women began wailing, according to the legend. The other person who rose from the dead – Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ – did not make any mention of what happened in death when He resurrected. So, what happens when we die, and after? Let’s have a physical perspective.
Man is a spirit, dwelling in a body with a soul. The body of man is what walks on the earth. It is what carries out daily activities and interacts with the physical world. The body (flesh) cannot enter the spiritual realm.
The soul of man comprises a man’s will, intellect, and emotions. The soul of man consists of what they have learned all through their lives, how they think, how they perceive, and all the information they have picked from their physical, sociological, and emotional environment. The soul is not physical: it has expression through the body. The body feeds the soul with information through its sensory organs: eyes, ears, nose, skin, and tongue. The soul is also the medium of communication between the spirit and the body. It is also the part of man that engages the spirit world through dreams and visions.
The spirit of man is what drives the man. It is also known as the breath of the Almighty God for Christians. The spirit is what guides a man’s soul to decide what information to accept or reject.
All these three come together to form a complete man. Without any one of these, man is not man. So, at the point of death, what happens? When a man dies, the spirit exits the body, and the organs responsible for bodily functions shut down. Now, the soul of man dies with the body – because the soul needs the sensory organs of the body to thrive and keep the body moving (it’s a symbiosis).
So, when the spirit leaves the body in what is physically called death, the man ceases to exist in this earthly realm. He can no longer interact with the physical Earth realm because he no longer has a body. There are various beliefs regarding what happens to the spirit that leaves man at the point of death but that is not the subject of discussion of this piece.
The living weep for the loss of the man. They cry because of the memories they have of the dead person, and bemoan the absence of the dead person for the rest of their lives. But, no matter how loudly the living weep over the dead, the body of the dead do not hear to respond. Their ears no longer function.
So, what happens when a man dies? Nothing. Their bodies just enter a state of dreamless sleep in perpetuity with no ability to affect the affairs of the living.
