What is the Meaning of Life?
It’s Sunday morning and I am reflecting on my recent post where I opened the door to sharing more of my journey with you.
My first thought was to be encouraged by the number of reads and favorable comments that resulted. It is wonderful to know that you are not only reading what I write and watching what I do next, but that you are willing to continue doing so even if I take some dramatic turns.
My second thought was “Oh my gosh, what have I done?!” I’ve not pulled many punches in the past, but the notion that exposing portions of my journey is PART of my journey is a bit overwhelming.
After all, there are things that are just too personal to share. And then there are other things which I believe could be instructive and useful for others. I personally believe that while our life experiences are our best teachers, we often go through those experiences so they can become teachers for others as well.
I cannot help but think of this humorous image created by the people at Despair.com.
It’s true that in order for humor to be funny, there must be some element of truth to it. So I guess my sunken ships could be your warning signs.
Which brings me back to where my mind was going this morning.
Life is a mish-mosh of several components, each more complex than the next.
There is the daily physical aspect. We wake up, scare ourselves when we look in the mirror, prepare for the day, eat, drink, work, play, sleep and so forth. Our bodies have many moving parts and the world our bodies operate in has many moving parts.
There is the soul aspect. We have wants, needs, desires, hopes and dreams. We have relationships with varying depths of intimacy. And we have our our emotions to deal with throughout the day. Happy, sad, anger, fear, frustation, joy… they come and go depending on what we are doing, who we are with, and what we think about what we are doing and who we are with.
On top of all this (or perhaps beneath it all) is the spiritual aspect. Thought to be non-existent by some and all-encompassing by others, it’s tough to deny that man is a spiritual being. Because we are aware that life is fleeting and that we all die sooner than later, the question of the meaning of life frequently seems to land in spirituality.
My question for you today is a broad one. And hopefully it is one that will spark a great deal of interesting and respectful discussion.
What IS the meaning of life?
Before anyone says “42“, Douglas Adams beat you to it.
If making money, accumulating stuff and dying with the most toys is our perspective, we need look no further than the accumulation of stuff to end the conversation. But I have a hunch that for the vast majority, there are far more significant reasons we do what we do.
Now, I have nothing to hide here. Lest you think I am baiting you, I’ve not hidden the fact that I am a Christian. My journey has led me to an increasingly strong faith in God through Jesus Christ. I can’t discuss my journey without including this integral piece of the puzzle.
With that said, I am sincerely interested in your thoughts and beliefs. I don’t believe I have the power to change anyone. We are all on our own personal journey and we each have the freedom to choose what we believe. I do have the power to share what I have discovered to those who are interested in listening. Whether it is one person or ten thousand doesn’t matter to me. In fact, I’d rather speak to one person who will listen than ten thousand who won’t.
So why are you here? Is there a God? Does he care? Is there an afterlife? Is this all there is? Is the object to get as much as you can? Is it to serve as many as you are able? Is it to succeed in business? Is it to become poor and give it all away? So many questions…
Just so you know. I don’t have a master plan for where this is all going. My next blog entry could be about social media, for all I know. Or maybe I’ll write about The Avengers if I get a chance to see it.
I suppose there is a lesson even in that. Part of my journey has led me to discover that life is to be lived one day at a time. Carpe diem, and all that good stuff.
I am eager to hear your answers and comments. I’m seeking real dialogue and interaction.
So if this discussion doesn’t interest you, don’t bother commenting.
If you are going to flame me, don’t bother commenting.
Since this is my house, I won’t approve those kinds of comments as I believe they distract from the conversation.
But if you wish to engage in a respectful, healthy manner, have at it! There’s a little form below ready to capture your thoughts. Go for it!
Hi Joel,
I’m a Christian as well. I had to leave home after highschool and joined the military. Twenty-two years later I had a pension but no job. After graduating with a degree in CS I finally did get a second career going as a programmer in a place that noone wanted to go (DC area). The meanig of life to me all this time as survival. Once you have beaten that back, the meaning of life is to give back. Just my opinion.
This is what I believe although it may not be complete nor expressed in the best way: We were created by God to worship and fellowship with Him. We rebelled against Him by acting as if we are God and can direct our own lives. This original sin led to all the others. Since God requires perfection, and we have irretrievably lost that, the only way we can reestablish our original relationship with Him is by accepting the death of His only Son Jesus Christ as full payment for our sin and accepting Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives.
Dear Joel, It is great to learn that you are a believer. As a Christian, I often feel concerned that every day, hundreds and thousands of people leave this world without having the chance to hear the Good News that will take them to heaven. We often compartmentalize our lives: work in this box, our spiritual belief it that box. When we think of God’s command to “go into the world and spread the Good News”, we say, “that’s the work of missionaries, for us.” But I believe it is a command for each of us, to do it in our own special way. As I earn a full-time income from the web, what I do is, I create a website specially to explain the Good News. Then I place a link from all my profit-earning website to this Gospel site, so that, people anywhere in the world have a chance to stumble on the Good News. Hopefully one day, I shall meet him or her in heaven, and he/she will tell me, “Oh it’s you! Do you know how I got to heaven? I was reading something on the web. At the bottom was a link. when I click it, I came read the Good News, become a believer, and now I am here! Thank you for introducing me to God and getting me to heaven!”
I wish I had that mustard-seed of faith. I respect and actually admire intelligent and informed people with faith. It takes a certain kind of courage to choose to believe in something even after learning that it really comes down to a choice… because in a finite world, people with a finite number of senses cannot really KNOW with any degree of certainty what exists in an infinite world devoid of time and space. Our finite brains can’t even begin to wrap itself around such concepts. But that, in essence, is what faith takes, regardless of what religion one follows.
For myself, I’m more comfortable living as a perpetual and uncompromising seeker of truth. It started from my high-school days when the Jesuits at the prestigious institution I attended got angry because they could not come up with answers to my vexing questions in religion class. But that’s another story. To answer the question, I think life’s purpose is to gather knowledge and seek truth.. to find meaning that can help to propel civilization forward. I think our DNA has that locked in… humankind is heading towards a destiny spectacular beyond imagination. I’m still only 80% sure I believe in intelligent design of that DNA, but its kind of difficult to see how random mutation and survival of the fittest (alone) through the ages created something this complex.
Joel , I love to read what you write about this topic. I am a Christian , and you help my faith in the Lord become strong..
Give us more of this good stuff !
If one feels the pain of another and stretches out their hand into the unknown, their leader in life will know their name. I’m not sure that you have written you were searching for truth, but I feel that from your words truth crossed your path. Your certainly an interesting man with value and I’m sure your God is looking after you in ways you cannot fathom.