I believe that God is real, and I believe that people's spirits carry on and they/we are still the same people that they/we have always been. I have felt closer to my grandparents after they died than I did when they were alive and I was too far away to visit them. I believe that they are aware of the things that I am doing now and still care about me and can help me at times. God loves us and cares about us.

Maybe there is an innate need to believe these things. Innate just means we were born with it, right? Maybe that innate need is carried over from a hint of memory of our former lives when we lived in God's presence and knew how much he loves us. Maybe that hint of memory is given to us to help us make it through the hard times in this life. I see it as a very good thing. And needing something to be true does not make it any less true.