This write up may elicit feelings of discomfort. If you are a fan of organized religion, you may elect to not go further. But I’d suggest you do.
My mind wanders and wonders quite a lot. I’m almost always thinking about something. Even when I’m asleep, my mind still keeps itself busy. I ask myself questions I probably will not get answers to in this lifetime, and inasmuch as I tell myself to stop wasting time on these questions, I find that to ignore them would make it look like the end point of things I do will be pointless. There’s no point working hard at something if you think it’s not going to last, but at the same time, you cannot say for sure that you know it wouldn’t last, so you just keep doing it. So what’s the point of anything? What’s the point of everything? Are we meant to look for a ‘point’? Or are we just meant to ‘do’ and see what happens at the end? Why are we in this world? How did this world come to be? Certainly wasn’t by accident else why is there so much orderliness in nature (procreation, seasons, the existence of male and female forms)?
If we are all going to die, why do we hold on so much to life? What’s our purpose on earth? Where does spirituality come in? Do we need to connect to a spirit level? Are we spirit beings? What happens after death?
From whatever perspective one views life, man is designed not just to exist, but to live. Man is designed to enjoy life, to enjoy the earth. To grow. If we are created in the image and likeness of God, what does that mean? Some say they are born again. What does that mean? When we die, are we going to heaven? What happens in the heaven you believe in? Will I know you? Will you know me? If I know you, will you remember all the things about me you did not like? Are we born again because we wish to enter into God’s kingdom and also be successful on earth? Will our faith put bread on the table? We know that without works, our faith isn’t any good, but have we also thought about the fact there are others who subscribe to a different religion/faith (from us) who are successful on earth? Does it therefore mean that you don’t have to subscribe to a particular religion to be successful on earth?
I’m not an iconoclast. I appreciate the ‘system’ within which I was brought up as it helped give me a moral compass and values with which I try to live life. Looking at things critically, if I was born into another ‘system’, I most likely would be an adherent of that system and would (or may) have practised that system and not the system I am familiar with now.
Bishop Desmond Tutu said God is not a Christian; is he correct? What exactly does this mean? What are we meant to do in this world with our identity and essence as Christians, Muslims, or adherents of some faith or religion?
Do we choose to spend some of our time participating in religious exercises without knowing for sure that they’ll get us to our desired end goals? Have we tried to sit down to examine what it’ll require to be successful at whatever it is we do, juxtapose what these requirements are with what we do with our time to see if there’s a balance or imbalance somewhere? When we attend religious services (say for 2 hours in a week), and we listen to and enjoy the exultations of the man of/from God, do we go back home and lounge or do we invest another 2 hours of our time to improve ourselves, to increase our knowledge or understanding of a skill that’s required for us to be more effective at work or business?
Discover your purpose. We hear that a lot. Do we have a predetermined purpose? Or do we turn our passion into an avenue to add value to others and possibly get rewarded by it?
What is sin? What is religion? Trying to understand God is like trying to put all the water in a lake into a teacup. It’s just not possible. So why try to understand God? How is it that some claim they understand God, that they know the mind of God?
If God has created us in His image, it means that when He looks at us (as you would look into a mirror), He sees Himself. It means we “are” Him. It means we have God-like attributes. It means we have dominion over the earth, by reflection, of/with the God-given powers in us. It means we have the ability to “do”; to create. We are not God, but He has created Himself in us. To believe in God means to know who you are; to understand the full breadth of that knowledge. To apply it. To believe it. To believe in the knowledge of who you are through God. To believe in you.
Life is beautiful. The world was created …. by God. Live it, enjoy it. Spend your time wisely. Worry less, plan more. Try not to make decisions based on concepts you don’t understand. Don’t follow the crowd just because you want to belong. Seek to understand why you do anything, or why you should do anything. You may not get answers now, but the exercise of understanding and discovery will lend definition to your actions; to your life.
“I understood myself only after I destroyed myself. And only in the process of fixing myself, did I know who I really was” – Sade Andria Zabala.
8 Comments
I ask myself many of these questions too and I’m sure many people do. I guess when you get to a certain age you start to wonder what All of “it” means. are we here for a reason or are we just waiting till it’s our turn to die? Hmm. Thank you.
Yes, there are many questions but few or no answers. One day/night/time, we’ll get answers to all these questions, hopefully …… Thanks for the comment!
Deep thoughts kay. the truth is that we may not have the right satisfying answers because the orderliness and diversity in this world is just too much to comprehend in simple terms but what I know is that existing in this world is an opportunity and it is worth it to have that internal fulfilment and positive impact on the society. Spirituality, hmmm, a subject to be discussed when we cross over to the other side.
Life throws more questions at us than we can answer. The only sure thing is death; we all gonna depart this earth at some point. Let’s concentrate in living a fulfilling life, a life of no regrets, whatever that means.
Permit me to characterize these Honest views as those of an agnostic theist. glad to know we ask pretty much the same questions. Meanwhile, The metaphor of a “tea-cup” is quite apt. Yet, so many goings-on continue to cast a shadow on the idea of an “omniscient God”. Well, i guess the dead are wiser. Let’s make it count while we continue to draw breath. Cheers buddy!
Thanks sir. It’s not so much for me as a debate on whether there is God or not; but what I wonder about is what I’m meant to do with my time here on earth. Key thing, I think, is to try to understand why we do anything. I ask a lot of people why they participate so much in religious activities; their reply “I am afraid of what will happen if I don’t”!! Not sure if that’s a great reason for doing something ….. like you said, we need to make it count while we continue to draw breath.
Aw, this was a nice post really. In idea I would like to put in writing like this additionally ‘ taking time and actual effort to make a very good article! but what can I say! I procrastinate a complete lot and by no means seem to get something done.
Thanks for the compliment! I used to procrastinate a lot too, but my fear for not achieving my goals in life became greater than my desire to relax and do nothing. Key question I ask myself all the time is ‘what do I want to be known for when I’m done here?’. If we are able to tell ourselves the truth, we’d be surprised at how fast we’d get to getting to stuff done!