"And no religion too" John Lennon

Hi Solar flare, I've ended up becoming a humanist after spending my whole life not finding a religion that fitted what I believed in.  I'm a nurse, practiced in palliative care mostly and often searched for answers as I faced others deaths daily. As a child my stepdad played the piano and organ in some local church services and my brother and I were made to go too just to give my mum a break from us. No one forced any views upon us and I grew to love the hymns and carols at Christmas too. My junior school (not a church school at all) had huge hymn sheets so I still know the words to "at the name of Jesus", " to be a pilgrim" and many others. This doesn't make me religious at all but it does feel weird to find myself singing them and considering one or two for my funeral!

I believe we all have spiritual views and this is separate from religious views. In my time working in hospices every patient I cared for had feelings and views on life after death with or without religion attached.  Our spiritual self to me is more about our individual philosophies on life than any religious rhetoric.   We all have our own unique spirit inside us and that's what makes us different from everyone else and makes us special too. 

When facing death I think it's common to mull over our beliefs and see if they still"fit" us as we approach the end of our life or of someone we care about. That's a good thing, to question is to be alive and trying to see what's important to us at an emotional time.

So there are my current feelings!