Great Uncle Fred? Is our world the real world? (Brendan, aged seven, Autumn 2008)

Brendan, I think that that is an excellent question and like many excellent questions it is a question which no one could answer with absolute certainty. Of course, our world is real and when you fall off your bike it really hurts and chocolate really does taste good and your brother and sister really do love you, but is there another world more real than this one? How you answer that might depend on whether or not you believe in God and Heaven. There are loads of people who think that when we die, that`s it, the end, nothing more, and for them there is no doubt - this is the real world. For the rest of us, there is another world to come and this world is a sort of rehearsal or preparation for that one. If you believe that - and of course I do not know what you believe, Brendan, but you will be making up your own mind on these important questions - yes, if you believe that there is an afterlife and stuff to come which we cannot possibly understand, then you must think that our world is sort of less real than that one. So, is our world the real world? I say - it is real but it is not the real. So, yes and no. Does that answer your question?

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