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The simplest questions often have the most complex answers. The Philosopher's Zone is your guide through the strange thickets of logic, metaphysics and ethics.
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What if the clearest way to love life is to look directly at death?
This week’s caller has lived with chronic illness, which has kept mortality close. But instead of fear, he’s found a deep sense of gratitude — for warmth, for connection, for the chance to still be here.
We talk about the small joys that give life its texture, and the ways imagination can shape belief. He shares how, as a child, The Velveteen Rabbit made him believe that love could bring something to life — and how that same sense of magic continues to color how he sees the world.
There’s also a story about a car accident in his twenties — the sudden thought, “Here I come, God,” flashing through his mind before impact. That moment opened a lifelong curiosity about what it really feels like to die, and what might happen in those final seconds of awareness.
From there, we explore consciousness, spirit, and the idea that maybe God isn’t separate from us at all — but something that lives in the space between people, in our attempts to truly understand one another.
It’s a conversation about illness, faith, imagination, and gratitude — and how even when we face death, there’s still beauty in simply being alive.
Book Recommendations: A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens; The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams
Movie Referenced: Before Sunset (dir. Richard Linklater)
If you’d like to watch this conversation instead of just listening, you can find the video version on YouTube.
Memorial Jewelry by Nia EmberlyTransform ashes into pendants and bracelets that carry love every day.
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Want to share your thoughts?
We want to hear from you! Call our voicemail at 971-328-0864 and tell us what you believe happens when we die. Your message might be featured in a future episode and could help inspire someone else on their journey. Or, if you're interested in having a full conversation, you can apply to be an anonymous caller at whenwedietalks.com.
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Chapters
1. #33 - God Exists in the Space Between Us (00:00:00)
2. One Question, Many Directions (00:00:04)
3. Sponsor: Turning Ashes Into Jewelry (00:00:38)
4. Host’s Spiritual Curiosity (00:01:11)
5. Introducing the Caller and Context (00:03:18)
6. Books, Imagination, and Faith Seeds (00:06:07)
7. What Happens When We Die? (00:08:36)
8. Consciousness, Matter, and Mystery (00:11:46)
9. Hopes For Freedom Beyond Constraints (00:15:38)
10. The Death Shudder and Finite Time (00:22:04)
11. A Near-Death Moment: “Here I Come, God” (00:26:37)
12. Redefining God As Shared Understanding (00:27:49)
13. Closing Reflections and Ways to Engage (00:32:21)
14. Voicemail: Signs, Memory, and Love Endure (00:33:47)
38 episodes
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