Will things be different after we die? There is a natural tendency to think that there will be a radical transformation after death, that we will be unburdened by our bodies and that our souls will fly off to heaven and be united with God. But then shouldn’t we prepare our souls now to be with God? The truth is that God won’t be changing, and probably neither will we. Our souls and the virtues and appetites we cultivate become more or less permanent parts of who we are. If you have cultivated a spirit of love and compassion in your life, and live in the presence of God, you can certainly expect more of this in the hereafter, but if you have cultivated a spirit of anger and hatred, or any of the other vices, these have become a part of your soul. Fortunately, these things can be changed, but only with steadfast hard work and a conscious decision to alter our characters. We can change our destiny, but only if we do the hard work necessary to change our characters. If you aren’t living in the presence of God now, what makes you think you’ll be in his presence in the hereafter? Live now as you would for eternity. – Christopher Simon