I believe God is good, wise, loving, and the first cause of everything. I believe his purpose in creating man is for man to learn to become like God experientially (perfect as he is perfect). And I believe that our life on earth is just the first leg of a long journey Godward.
Ah, sounds like faith to me. It's nice to have baseless convictions that provide an alternative to the inevitable eternal death that awaits us. I am not really into make believe style stories but whatever floats your boat. If I were to have faith, I would think of some really cool shit to believe in.... afterlife would be awesome.
The Australian aborigines have some amazing 'Dreamtime' legends which are extremely old. Not a bad alternative to the more traditional God has a plan, soul-afterlife stuff most people seem to go for. The Australian Aboriginal Dreamtime legends are much like the Flying Spaghetti Monster stories of today, only 50 000 years old. My children enjoy that type of cultural-religious story telling more so than the Bible. The bible can get harsh at times for small children, with the incest and genocide, raping, general killing and fucking that takes place throughout.