Daily Reflection - Life's Purpose
Starting my day with re-reading my life/year goals is a really nice thing. It helps me focus, and usually makes me look back at the previous day and realize that I failed (again) at implementing them. That's ok. They're LIFE goals. I hope I've got a long time to work on them.
One of the things on the paper, though, is a few sentences after the words "My Life's Purpose:" Reading them this morning I felt like that was way too deep a thing to be reflecting on with only half a cup of coffee and a few minutes away from sleep. What is our life's purpose? Is it what we want people to think about at our funeral? Is it what we want our grandchildren to talk about long after we're gone? Is it a company or a theorem or book that has our name on it? I'm sure it's different for everyone during their life. I wonder if, right before we die, everyone comes to the same conclusion about life's purpose though. If there is some clarity there at the end. Or if that clarity is actually just situationally induced...
There's an easy answer to this if you're a believer in the Christian God, and it goes somewhere along the lines of:
My purpose is to serve and glorify Him. To live my life in such a way that when the final accounting takes place, I am found good enough to be in Heaven with Him.
I truly to believe in God, but statements like this make me uncomfortable. Assuming there is an omnipotent, omnipresent God, why does He care if we outwardly glorify Him? Are we saying that he is also an egotistical God who needs the adulation? Can we not be humble and private with our love? Why does He care if we proselytize? Does He NEED us to show his grace? If we are living a good and generous life by our Christian principles, shouldn't God be evident through that without needing to beat down peoples' doors? Unfortunately, the only people who want to have this conversation with me are the people who passionately believe it, and there is no room for doubt in their minds. I don't enjoy discussions with people who leave no room for doubt.
All these deep thoughts are no doubt related to the fact that my Aunt and Uncle are having serious health issues, in conjunction with Brynna trying to sort through death after hearing about a little boy in Florida who was killed by an alligator, and I've been thinking a lot about death, dying with dignity, and the legacy we leave behind.
One of the things on the paper, though, is a few sentences after the words "My Life's Purpose:" Reading them this morning I felt like that was way too deep a thing to be reflecting on with only half a cup of coffee and a few minutes away from sleep. What is our life's purpose? Is it what we want people to think about at our funeral? Is it what we want our grandchildren to talk about long after we're gone? Is it a company or a theorem or book that has our name on it? I'm sure it's different for everyone during their life. I wonder if, right before we die, everyone comes to the same conclusion about life's purpose though. If there is some clarity there at the end. Or if that clarity is actually just situationally induced...
There's an easy answer to this if you're a believer in the Christian God, and it goes somewhere along the lines of:
My purpose is to serve and glorify Him. To live my life in such a way that when the final accounting takes place, I am found good enough to be in Heaven with Him.
I truly to believe in God, but statements like this make me uncomfortable. Assuming there is an omnipotent, omnipresent God, why does He care if we outwardly glorify Him? Are we saying that he is also an egotistical God who needs the adulation? Can we not be humble and private with our love? Why does He care if we proselytize? Does He NEED us to show his grace? If we are living a good and generous life by our Christian principles, shouldn't God be evident through that without needing to beat down peoples' doors? Unfortunately, the only people who want to have this conversation with me are the people who passionately believe it, and there is no room for doubt in their minds. I don't enjoy discussions with people who leave no room for doubt.
All these deep thoughts are no doubt related to the fact that my Aunt and Uncle are having serious health issues, in conjunction with Brynna trying to sort through death after hearing about a little boy in Florida who was killed by an alligator, and I've been thinking a lot about death, dying with dignity, and the legacy we leave behind.
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