When the Real World Begins

I somehow found myself in an email conversation with a well-known and influential (within the magic community) writer of a magic blog and books, and at the end of the last email he wrote,

"Sorry to hear about your daughter. I'm fairly certain this world isn’t the whole story, and you’ll see her again when the real one begins."

For me, this is a great way to express hope that is religion-neutral, and is something that I can get behind. I struggle at times with daring to formulate such hopeful thoughts in my head, and often envy those whose faith brings enough certainty that at least a portion of the pain and loss during times like this is softened a bit and made more manageable. None of us can know for certain the true nature of reality, and sometimes just the small chance that there is something else going on is what keeps me from a total and complete breakdown. I often feel bad for our species; we've evolved to the point that our brains can contemplate that we are perhaps finite, and we recognize the extremely short time we have. It would seem no other animal or lifeform on this planet has to suffer the same fate, the knowledge of their own fleeting mortality. People with a strong faith in God have a sort of respite, for their understanding is that the human soul, at least, is immortal. I just hope they're right. They have to be right. At least, surely, this world isn't the whole story.