http://earthnotes-eblog.blogspot.com
by: David Michael Beachwood
This is a question that most of us had posed to our
parents, and later to ourselves, at some point in our childhood. Most of our parents didn’t know how to answer
this very well. I for one, now that I am
older, have a little more to say on the subject. This doesn’t mean I have “The Answer” for you
as you yourself are responsible for finding it. If, however I had a child today I would have
this to tell them.
By asking the question “What is the meaning of life” you
have started yourself on a quest which might take you to places you could never
have imagined. Your question has been
formed in many deferent ways, by almost everyone who has ever lived. The most common forms seem to be; why am I
here, why do I exist, what is my life all about or more broadly “What’s it all
about?” The best answer to this question, in my opinion, is that we really do
not know; yet. Most humans on earth have
had to wrestle with this question.
Getting their information from the world in the best way they can. This
is a brief idea of what I have found so far, but ultimately you will have to
make your own mind up.
Basically all the arguments on this subject break down into
two major sides. The reason for this is
that once you start to delve into the question it begs you to wander into
things which cannot be seen. Consequentially,
so far, they also haven’t been able to analyze these things to the satisfaction
of both sides; at the same time. This fundamental
question, in a very real way, is drawn from our own emotions. These emotions seem to contain within them
our own sense of self along with a multitude of other feelings and concepts.
One concept, which comes to the forefront in many of us,
is the idea of right and wrong. This is
really what brings about the two major sides on this issue. Which I state for now as “What is the meaning
of life?” In my mind those two major
sides are; Atheism and Theism. Atheists
see existence basically as a “chance event” while the theists see existence as
an event of God. Atheists often question
whether there really is such a thing as right or wrong while Theist have built
a moral code around these concepts.
Currently both sides really need to have faith in their
positions, because our knowledge hasn’t sufficiently progressed enough to
conclusively answer the question. Each
side makes strong arguments. However, in
the end it will be up to you to make your own decision as to which of them you
chose. Your success in life can be
directly affected by the choice you make.
The word “life” here has a double meaning. For atheist there is only one life; that of which
we experience today. For theist it is,
for the most part, two lives which are important, one earthly and one
spiritual.
One thing that I have experienced as I have approached
this powerful question was that if you ponder it for a long time it will wear
you out. It is a kind of a loop which
never seems to give you a rest unless you take a position one way or the other;
even if it is only temporary. I think anyone
can suffer mental fatigue from over thinking any issue. The fact that it can be
so fatiguing suggests that, so far, we are not really capable of giving this
question a complete answer. In fact we
humans haven’t been able to answer it for thousands of years now. There
may even be the possibility that we are not meant to understand this question;
at least at this time.
Because we have a limit to how long we live most of us
have chosen to take a side on this issue and try to live our lives
accordingly. This is where I feel the
theist have a better position. The
reason being is their basic doctrine provides a common path or a way of life
with which to guide us through both of our lives. Atheists normally don’t provide any code at
all to live by; that is left up to their followers. Theism has a focus on a supreme being who has
defined common rights for us as humans. He
has also imparted unto us basic rules for us to follow so that we can
live. Live not only on this earth today,
but in the life to come. Since these rights and morals have been established
as “God given” they cannot be changed or taken away, by individual men acting
on behalf of man. Those basic rules and
rights have not changed under God for thousands of years now. This provides us with a sense of hope and a
sense of security which humans need to function at their best. Ultimately God will answer all our questions. He gave us the minds we have in order for us
to search for answers. This search is,
in a very real way, our test.
The atheist position, in my opinion, leaves each of us
without an easily defined common path.
This tends to isolate us from one another. It relies on us humans to set
up our own rules of behavior and under this position these rules change
frequently. It is, in my opinion, a
rather cold and short ranged form of thinking. With atheism our security as a group hinges on
morals defined by individual humans with personnel agendas. What is more; these leaders change frequently
so the rules change frequently. This
leaves us not very well founded.
Humans still have emotions and these emotions still need
to be dealt with. In my opinion our human evolution has not gotten to the point
where we can claim that we have risen above our emotions and have no need of
them. Our emotions still have a powerful
control over us. Moral codes are extremely
important or our society can collapse.
While theism is not perfect it has a frame work which is more helpful
then hurtful as compared to atheism; in my opinion.
Atheist would call me weak; they would say I am using a
crutch, by relying on God. I would like
to turn this around and say they are weaker by relying on Man. I, at least, am honest in viewing the frailty
of humans. Atheist, I believe think that
they are superior because they need only to rely on themselves; God is not
necessary. I believe they feel they can control
everything. In my view this is a weak
position, because I know human emotions are seldom controlled. We simply are
not to the point of discipline yet and it appears that in evolution we are
extremely far off from controlling all of our emotions. We need help and a supreme being gives us
that help, but only if one wants it.
You don’t have to choose a side, some people don’t. If you take this path in life you put
yourself in jeopardy. This path allows
your human emotions to have much more control over your actions. While you will experience pleasure, it often
causes more pain then joy. Without a
working compass to guide you, you will be on your own. You will repeat the suffering that billions
of others have already experienced, if you don’t learn from their mistakes.
While the atheist approach seems a bit more appealing, on
the surface, it doesn’t offer the kind of stability needed to give you the
security you should be looking for. This
security is not a baby’s security blanket as the atheist would assume. This security is a strong defense to be used
against the challenges in life. In my
opinion, most people don’t understand the bible’s message completely. It really is a tough course of study and I believe
that is why there are so many branches of faith.
In a self guided reading of the Bible most of us create
our own meanings and messages. These
often are not what the teaching is trying to impart. Perhaps Christianity has suffered this
confusion the most of any religion. Learning
the Bible, in my opinion, requires a good teacher who goes chapter by chapter
and verse by verse to explain those old antiquated verses to the modern day reader. This leads one to the total volume of the
bible. The essence of which provides the
meaning of life.
I reserve the right to revise and extend my remarks.
