Reincarnation

At the risk of stirring up a controversy, I believe in reincarnation. I find it a comforting thought. Although at other times, I find the idea exhausting. I don’t know exactly how compatible it is with Christianity but I’m guessing for the most part, no.

And why do I believe in reincarnation? It just seems plausible. It’s all a matter of faith, of believing in an Unknown, isn’t it? I reason that if I can believe in God and the supernatural, I should be able to believe in all levels of the Unknown. Who knows what will happen after we die? Who is to say with absolute certainty that when we die, we return to the ether, or if we just climb back up through another tunnel, or if we reach paradise or hell? We don’t know. Because we can’t know.

If you tell me there are beings that can shape-shift between humans and tigers, I shall believe you. If you tell me there are beings whose heads can fly off at night and suck the blood of unsuspecting preys, I shall believe you. If you tell me there are migrating spirit villages whose presence we can tell only by their torches at night, I shall believe you. I believe in the supernatural. I’ve always done so.

My contention with reincarnation, however, is Elijah in the Bible.

Elijah is a curious character. He just appears out of nowhere and slips back out in a flaming chariot to nowhere. At the very fag-end of the Old Testament, we are told this cryptic message that the prophet Elijah will be sent to stir up shit before the Day of the Lord. And when John the Baptist was described in the first book of the New Testament, anyone who knows Elijah would have said: Hey, this is a repeat! Because Elijah before him had been described in pretty much the same details, fashion-wise. See 2 Kings 1:8 and Matthew 3:4. John did say point-blank he was not Elijah but one could argue that perhaps reincarnates aren’t fully aware of their past lives. When Jesus was asked about Elijah he simply replied, Elijah had already come and gone, clearly referencing John.

I don’t want to be proven wrong. I like this theory. I don’t think it does me much harm. It had, for one monsoon, amused me and my mum immensely, discussing reincarnation as she taught me how to knit a sweater. Over hot, sweet milk tea and boiled yams with DPT chutney, or half-boiled country eggs. I have a nice, sweet memory of it. I know there are theologians or smarter people who can prove me wrong. But kindly let it be.

WBU?