The Allure of Uncertainty

 by Tom Fairman

It is often quoted that there is nothing certain in life except death and taxes. In the UK, the certainty of taxes will be made known in the upcoming Autumn statement and we have been pre-warned to expect a lot of taxes. This is a way of managing expectations and making us and the markets react in a certain way to what we are told is a certainty.

Creating the impression of certainty is one that is attractive given the chaos of constant u-turns and changes to policy, but it is a dangerous game to play. In life, it is very difficult to say for certain anything will happen as life is a beautifully complex thing that is constantly throwing up surprises. To try and predict it with any confidence is somewhat foolish.

The scientists and data analysts whose job it is to make sense of the world will make the same assertion. Looking back into the past of what has happened helps us to see connections between different elements, but to extrapolate to make predictions about the future comes with a degree of risk, called a confidence interval. Perhaps it is a general lack of numeracy ability or a deliberate blindness to anything grey, that as a society we want facts and truth and concrete predictions rather than probabilities or chance.

This mind set extends to the second certainty of death. We have pushed death to the outskirts of our vision. Hospices and hospitals are given the care of our elderly and infirm with our participation being hopefully frequent visits. We would rather not think about the death of loved ones or ourselves hence the low level of life insurance or funeral planning. For something we know is going to happen, we appear to have forgotten how to deal with it.

Part of this can also be traced to the uncertainty of what happens after we die. To acknowledge our mortality means to address the question of what happens next? This is a truly terrifying question as it forces us to confront our lives and how we are living. If there is nothing after death, no resurrection, no after life, then St Paul writes to the church in Corinth that as Christians we are to be pitied more than all people. However if there is something, what does it look like?

Given the lack of empirical evidence, this is where nowadays we struggle. We can’t see beyond death, nor touch it nor speak to people who have seen it. We can’t read about it on the Internet nor listen to podcasts describing it. All we can do is look back to the past to see connections to help predict the future with some degree of uncertainty or with, a better word, faith.

The Sadducees were in this position of doubting any sort of resurrection because they could not see how this life would be replicated in another. They became certain in their belief regarding death being the end and so set out to trap Jesus with this logic that so many seem to have at the moment.

Jesus does not answer their question directly in the way they were hoping but speaks of a transformation into children of God, being like angels but not angels, of not marrying or remarrying, nor dying but living forever. Forever is a frighteningly large amount of time to be doing something we are not sure about. However, the fact He states this, suggests there is something more.

The beautiful glimpses we are given of this something more throughout the Bible are wonderful. Jesus speaks of a house with room for everyone. The Psalmist talks of banquets given on the side of the mountain of God. St John in Revelation describes the joy and worship of the heavenly hosts in the presence of God himself. If every good and perfect thing comes from God, then why would these gifts stop being given after we die?

This vision of life after death is very attractive, very hopeful, and one we should all want to attain. The question of does it exist cannot be answered with absolutely certainty though, except by one who has experienced it and has the power to offer it to others. One who has conquered death and opened the door to this life for all. There will always be an element of faith in this and it will always remain an invitation. Nothing will be forced upon us but the choice we make about what is after death has profound consequences on how we live our lives.

Perhaps this is why we choose to ignore it or run away from it. Yet, we need to run from the allure of certainty and ask; what if there is something after death, even if that turns our whole life upside down or even if we are not completely sure what it is. Because at the end of the day, we will have to face the way we have answered that question and pray that we have not got it wrong.