Life is short, time is fleeting... What happens after this life?

A good friend of mine, Jim, had a post not long ago that was of interest to me. I made a long reply there, but thought I would bring the topic to my blog for further discussion and development.
Here is part of Jim’s post:

“‘Now when I came to Troas for the gospel of [...]

I said to my step-daughter: “I feel like I am trying to get somewhere but I have gum on my shoes and it is holding me back.”

By this time the snakes were everywhere, and it became clear to me that I wasn’t going to make it out alive. I thought to myself, “I wonder if it will hurt much.” I also wondered how far I could get until I died, and if I would die quickly. I cried out to the Lord, “Jesus, come HELP me! I need you right now!” Then, determined to get as far as I could, I took a step back in the direction of my goal.

Then I looked up in the sky and saw the sun. It started to grow strange to my eyes, and it was terribly fearful to look at. It moved from its place and first seemed to dance from one side of the heavens to the other, like a bouncing ball. Then it began to move in circles and the terror of it made people panic. My labor was upon me in full force, and though it was not painful, it seemed to be tied to the events that were happening outside my cube, and the intensity of God’s wrath seemed to be tied to what the sun was doing.