all that stuff about family reunions 'on the further shore'

Interestingly enough, that is exactly the picture that Lewis himself paints in the closing chapter of "The Last Battle", the conclusion of the Narnia series.

And I must admit that that book is by far the most moving and appealing picture of heaven - "Come further up! Come farther in!" - that this skeptic has ever read.

"why God saved some in the Philippines but allowed 10,000 others to die."

Is god playing Peek-a-Boo....and whak-A-mole again?

There is one other remote possibility than most do not even consider. If one doesn't believe in or accept the Christian God....or other monotheistic religion, is it outside the realm of possibilty, that at death one may encounter a creative intelligence, an entity or intelligence who is responsible for creation....one that is like nature...red in tooth and claw….but indifferent…not benevolent, or malevolent…that sends no one to hell...one that is still in the process of creating….and has deemed that the end of the physical form of existence, only means another step in the cosmic evolutionary ladder...from the physical realm...to an ongoing evolution of individual beings, of consciousness, of self, of "soul", culminating in the “oneness” of that entity from whence the "singularity"(big bang)...from which our universe began? I often wonder if the concept of God, from the human perspective, from the Christian perspective isn't too small. The Christian religion is comforting no doubt in that it seems to give some answers, in a round about convoluted manner. I am not trying to take that away from anyone....but what if? Those who have no Christian god may like some hope as well. We are all, like drowning men, grasping at straws.

No. Only Catholicism; that is to say, Christ rose from the dead and founded One Church.

No other religion presents comparable motives of credibility, although the Catholic Church rejects nothing that is true in the multitude of false religions, three of the most significant (Protestantism, Orthodoxy and Islam) being nothing more or less than schismatic offshoots of Her.

Because God has revealed it. No comparable guarantee of factual truth is conceivable.

God has revealed himself in Judaism, Bahá'í, Hinduism, Mormonism, and Islam as well. Or so adherents of each one of those religions would say with as much conviction as Catholics.

However, if death is not the end, the sorrow is much less because there is little reason to be sad.

I don't think Bryan Cross was making the point that there was "little reason to be sad" because of the loss of his son. To the extent that grief the pain of loss, then there is no less reason to grieve for a lost love one if he or she goes on to some life after death or simply ceases to exist. A father who loses a son, a husband who loses a wife, or a child who loses a parent suffers no less of a loss if the one who dies goes to heaven. The most impressive book I have ever read by a believer on the death of a loved on is C. S. Lewis's A Grief Observed in which he says

Talk to me about the truth of religion and I'll listen gladly. Talk to me about the duty of religion and I'll listen submissively. But don't come talking to me about the consolations of religion or I shall suspect that you don't understand.

Unless, of course, you can literally believe all that stuff about family reunions 'on the further shore,' pictured in entirely earthly terms. But that is all unscriptural, all out of bad hymns and lithographs. There's not a word of it in the Bible. And it rings false. We know it couldn't be like that. Reality never repeats. The exact same thing is never taken away and given back. How well the Spiritualists bait their hook! 'Things on this side are not so different after all.' There are cigars in Heaven. For that is what we should all like. The happy past restored.”

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that these beautiful little children of God are blessed to be ushered into the presence of God. When we finally get to heaven (and reunited) we will be revered as *veterans* of the great war on earth, that we were chosen to fight, for *all* of humanity.

Heaven couldn't be heaven without children.

If we had a glimpse of heaven in advance, *as it really is* we would probably not be able to muster the will to keep living and fighting.