What is the purpose of our lives?

[sanctus]

Simple. When the tree falls, it make sound waves. Those sound waves are recorded on tape. When you play that tape back, a replica of those sound waves enter your ears and are interpreted as sound. So, in that case it does make a sound (though I suppose it's not identical to the original sound).

But the point is it would make a sound, whether heard by a man or not. There is a danger in most of our limited thinking that would have everything in the world succomb to our understanding before being accorded validity. How arrogant of
mankind to assume it must be the centre of all that there is!

 

[sanctus]

I believe in faith too, but it has nothing to do with god/religion, but it is strong, and I believe and
have faith in those around me, and myself and my earth, it is a very religious feeling, but not in the
stereo typical way, I am far too realistic for "that", I would be dissapointed in myself if I began to
try to obey something that is mythical, that's for the movies and makebelieve.

And just what exactly is "realistic"?? Whose version of reality does that fall under? I know personally people who feel it is "realistic" to expect everyone in the world to live as we do in Canada. They assume because theat is their reality. In making these sorts of assumptions, do we not in a sense depart from our version of reality? We must, for to define it we must put it outside of us, and upon doing so, we have actually lost its' meaning.

 

[sanctus]

I believe in faith too, but it has nothing to do with god/religion, but it is strong, and I believe and
have faith in those around me, and myself and my earth, it is a very religious feeling, but not in the
stereo typical way, I am far too realistic for "that", I would be dissapointed in myself if I began to
try to obey something that is mythical, that's for the movies and makebelieve.

You assume in the mythology because it does not fit into your self-conceived expectations. We call it myth because we cannot define it, so we assume it is incorrect. But what do we really know about anything or anyone??All we have are glimpses of real, snapshots of the soul that resist defintion.

For example, I have a brother who is a year younger than me. When growing up, we shared a room. I slept in the same room as him until my early 20's. Like most brothers in this situation, there was very little about his external behaviour and habits I do not know. I saw him in almost every conceivable situation a man can be in, from various bodily functions to sharing a bath together when very young, all the most intimate things.

Now, do I really know him? In other words, all I do know is what I observed of his external behaviour over the years, and the same for him in regards to me. But there is still a part of him hidden from me, and me hidden from him. So no matter how many situations we shared, there is always something we can never know about the other.

God is like that in a way, something that will always be hidden from us because we cannot externalize God into a reasonable defintion that will codify and explain Him to our minds. Whatever we do know is only a shadow, a glimpse. St. Paul himself elaborates on this theme quite well.

 

[mapleleafgirl]

But the point is it would make a sound, whether heard by a man or not. There is a danger in most of our limited thinking that would have everything in the world succomb to our understanding before being accorded validity. How arrogant of
mankind to assume it must be the centre of all that there is!

so even if it makes a sound, nobody would hear it. i mean, so is it really there at all???

 

[mapleleafgirl]

And just what exactly is "realistic"?? Whose version of reality does that fall under? I know personally people who feel it is "realistic" to expect everyone in the world to live as we do in Canada. They assume because theat is their reality. In making these sorts of assumptions, do we not in a sense depart from our version of reality? We must, for to define it we must put it outside of us, and upon doing so, we have actually lost its' meaning.

no way. how can that be? there has t be a real world because i can see it and tastes it and feel it. how is that not real to you?

 

[mapleleafgirl]

there is no such thing as "eternal life", and all who believe that are just afraid to face the facts that,
like all the animals on earth, we re a product of the earth, through our parents, and we will die and
return to the earth, it is so simple, and real, but people who think life is eternal are so worried about
dying they make up silly stories and train themselves to actually believe they will never "really" die
but live on forever, don't be so selfish, accept the fact that we "die", it's OK, you can handle it, be
brave, don't live with a makebelieve story just to fool yourself, just die like the rest of us, and wish
your offspring a good life, and on it goes.

than what is the point of living if we have nothing to sstrive for? i mean, we gotta have something to hold onto to make it al worth well.

 

[mapleleafgirl]

Aw geez... I have no idea what stuff like that means. It defies all logic I understand. If God's perfect, why would he create us to love and serve him? Why would he need that? And if he's not perfect, he's not worthy of unconditional love and service and worship, he's not God. This kind of argument goes right by me.

me too. i believe in god..and i do go t church as often as i can..but why do we have t i wonder?

 

[Northboy]

Fr. C.G. Vaillancourt

We have been created to know God, to love Him and to serve Him; so that we can merit to enjoy Him in eternal life.
Everything has a purpose in life. God created the Heavens and the earth to show us His Magnificence, His Power and Majesty and to draw our attention to Him the Creator, not to His Creation. Unfortunately we neglect God, turn away from His Presence and live most of our lives for ourselves only [2 Chronicles 29:6].
A hammer is designed to hit nails, a microphone is made so that we can speak into it. Now, imagine that you start hammering nails with a microphone or that you speak into the hammer? Ridiculous, funny, stupid or whatever you want to call it, it is simply wrong.
We have been created for the purpose of being drawn back into God, but when we separate from Him things go wrong in our lives. We start complaining because we don't find any purpose in life. If we were washing machines, there would be instructions on how to operate these machines and we would read them. If something went wrong, we would go to an approved washing machine mechanic in order to be fixed properly. Now since we are children of God, is it not appropriate that we come to Him whenever something goes wrong in our lives? But is it fair to come to Him only when we need Him? [Joel 2:12] Are we then supposed to have a better relationship with Him who has created us, who loves us, who cares for us and who is calling us for eternal joy in Him?
Praise and Worship

We are thankful to people here on earth because they are good to us and help us, people are instrumental in our lives for our happiness. Should we not begin to realise how much we owe God, how much He cares for us every instant, keeping us alive and giving us love through others?
We must contemplate the Majesty of God, we must praise Him for His works of creation, we must praise Him for His Power and Glory, we must praise Him for for Infinite Love and Mercy. [Psalm 146]
Praised be God the Father Almighty in His Supreme Power and Will, who by His divine design runs the universe.

Praised be Jesus Christ, the Eternal Word of God, made flesh by whose Word everything has been created, who came to save us from death.

Praised be God the Holy Spirit, who sustains the universe by the Power of His Love, who has come to dwell in our hearts in order to make us know, love and serve Him.
Glory be to the Father, to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning it is now and ever shall be world without end. Amen.
To worship God in a very profound act of praise and thanksgiving, is to love Him for what He is, to give ourselves totally to Him.
The seraphim, the highest hierarchy of angels are also called the burning ones because they burn continuously with love for God. In the book of Isaiah [Isaiah 6:3] they are seen as continuously worshipping God and they say : Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, Heaven and earth are full of His Glory.
It is as if by declaring the holiness of God, we can also become holy.
If we put our hands in water, we get wet; if we put them in fire we get burned, if we are in darkness and we come to the light, we can see. So if we come before the Presence of God in Praise and Worship, God reflects His Glory upon our souls and we experience a tremendous Peace in our hearts, we feel the joy of knowing that God is responding to our Love and we satisfy the yearning of our souls. As we come to God in our emptiness, He will replenish us with His riches, as we come to Him in our darkness, He will bathe us in His Light, as we come to Him in our sinfulness, He will cover us with His Grace. We never come back from God empty handed because He is Love and Love is continuously burning like a fire [ Hebrews 12:29] reaching out with its flames of purity and perfection.
Prayer, praise and worship lead us into contemplation of God, who is always knocking at our doors [Revelation 3:20]. There are many prayers to be prayed, but none as beautiful as the ones coming from our own spirit, since the Lord wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth [Romans 8:26-27]. We can also read the Psalms and sing songs of praise to God. As we respond to His call, our souls are beautified and made holy.
The greatest act of worship that we can do is to receive Jesus in the Sacrament of His Presence, the Holy Eucharist. There is no greater offering to God the Father than His Son, and this is our offering to God when we receive Jesus [Hebrews 13:15].
We can then worship His Presence within us as we become tabernacles of the divinity and by living in His Presence we are sanctified. We can also adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar as we yearn to possess Him within us.
We also worship Jesus as we meditate His passion during the Stations of the Cross, or as we pray the Holy Rosary which contains the complete life, death, resurrection and Glory of Jesus in the company of His mother.
What is our future after death?

We only die once, after death comes judgement [Hebrews 9:27], and may these words of God erase that theory of Re-incarnation for good.
Our future depends on our present. Just as people invest money, time and efforts into the things of the future, we must invest our short lives in preparation for that great eternal life. What is 60 or 80 years or more if the Lord gives us more time compared to eternity? It is not even like a grain of sand compared to the universe, because we don't even have the knowledge to understand and measure creation. Only God knows; but in humility we can just ponder and understand that we would be fools not knowing how to choose well between life and death [Deuteronomy 30:19].
Not that we really die when we die [John 12:24], because the spirit is immortal and if we have to face judgment, we must strive to live a holy life in order to avoid eternal condemnation.
[John 5:24] Amen, amen I say unto you, that he who hears my word, and believes him that sent me, has life everlasting; and comes not into judgment, but is passed from death to life.
Those who live by the Word of God are judged already, and Jesus did not come to the world to condemn but to save us [John 12:47] .
If we live and die in God, we will be raised in Him and we will live eternally in Him.
Let us despise the world for God's sake and live a holy life, not just for the rewards offered but because this is "God's call to be holy".
Blessed are those who put their trust in the Lord [Jeremiah 17:7]

The question of the Ages...

I don't know if I can articulate a concise response of my personal understanding, but I can suggest that you revisit "The Wisdom of Solomon" and we could discuss..if you like..My version is in the New English Bible so that we are looking at the same thing.

For the context of this forum, I'll say those who seek Wisdom are Seeking God

 

[mapleleafgirl]

The question of the Ages...

I don't know if I can articulate a concise response of my personal understanding, but I can suggest that you revisit "The Wisdom of Solomon" and we could discuss..if you like..My version is in the New English Bible so that we are looking at the same thing.

For the context of this forum, I'll say those who seek Wisdom are Seeking God

what is the wisdom of solomonand why cant you discuss it here? what matters with the bible version ayway? why are there so many versions?

 

[Northboy]

what is the wisdom of solomonand why cant you discuss it here? what matters with the bible version ayway? why are there so many versions?

It is a book that is included with the New English Bible in narrative format, not broken into verses..

You know how sentences broken up break up the thought of the writer, changing emphasis, etc..

This Bible is like a narrative, written after WWII for a new age, I suppose... things changed...

I couldn't understand scripture until I got one of these..Just like any "brand", I prefer this one..

 

[cortex]

The question of purpose has already been answered adequately by the existentialist philosophers. The best summary in my view is JP Sarte's ---lecture ---existentialism is a humanism. In it he defines the existentialist position--well at least his view of it .

Existence precedes essence.


That is the core concept, the ramifications of which are enormous. It means basically that there is no universal meaning---no universal purpose--its that simple. Dont sweat it. We CHOOSE our purpose we create our meaning. That act of creating a purpose ---does not diminish its importance however.

Another way of looking at it--reverting to the medieval scholastics for a moment is to ask ourselves a simple question,

How is it that a FINITE being such as ourselves----could have an ULTIMATE purpose?

We cannot, no more than the cow I ate for dinner has.

The irony is this---although we are finite beings we can conceive of POTENTIALLY having---of wanting an ultimate purpose without being able to grasp it---knowing in our hearts that we cannot ---for we can see so much more than we can act upon----we cant barely touch so more more than we can grasp---we ask so much more than can ever be answered.

It is the anguish of this discrepancy between what we can touch but cannot grasp that make many turn to a delusion----ie the creator ---to bridge this gap.

 

[look3467]

Life is such that enables us to seek relief from it. How or where or to whom can we find help?
That has been the question since mankind begin.

In other words, why am I here? Who said that it was ok by me to come into this world?

I don't remember asking my pareants if it was OK for me to be born.

Here is a verse that many of you don't know about which explains why: Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

The fall =subject to vanity
Not willingly= the wrath of mankind
Salvation = the hope which is in Jesus

Now, that wrath (the not willing part) has to be changed, transformed into joy.
Thankfulness of been born to learn that the Father so loved us that He made it possible for us to learn love by trial and yet, not condemned for eternity.

Peace>>>AJ

 

[Northboy]

Life is such that enables us to seek relief from it. How or where or to whom can we find help?
That has been the question since mankind begin.

In other words, why am I here? Who said that it was ok by me to come into this world?

I don't remember asking my pareants if it was OK for me to be born.

Here is a verse that many of you don't know about which explains why: Rom 8:20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,

The fall =subject to vanity
Not willingly= the wrath of mankind
Salvation = the hope which is in Jesus

Now, that wrath (the not willing part) has to be changed, transformed into joy.
Thankfulness of been born to learn that the Father so loved us that He made it possible for us to learn love by trial and yet, not condemned for eternity.

Peace>>>AJ

Good Luck with that

 

[look3467]

Good Luck with that

This can be answered with that famous verse John 3:16. Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Which is followed by these verses:

Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,

(Love covers a multitude of sins)

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ

, (by grace ye are saved
(Though dead, He quickened [made alive] us together with Christ) by:

Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

(Jesus sits at the right hand of God, meaning we are seated there in Him as well) [Past tense]

Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

(THat His mercy is un-ending throughtout all ages)

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

(Here is the gift of life, given to us without merit,) [salvation}

Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And here is the explanation of that all our works are not needed for salvation, or the free gift, otherwise, any of us should boast and say, "look at me, how holy and good I am, for I have gained salvation by my good deeds".
What we see then, is that salvation is free! But our behavior will demostrate whether we know it or not.
By knowing, we are free, we then can live in this new life doing what Jesus instructed us to do, Love God and neighbor.
We have a complete change of heart, from a wrathful individual, to a loving one.

Peace>>>AJ

 

[jimmoyer]

What is the purpose of our lives? To waste time read garbage like this.
------------------------------Dalreg---------------------------------------------------

LOL !!

Sanctus, your musings and learned observations are quite interesting.

But somehow, primitive slapstick obliterates all other meaning for me.

 

[talloola]

than what is the point of living if we have nothing to sstrive for? i mean, we gotta have something to hold onto to make it al worth well.

that statement is very very pityful

 

[talloola]

And just what exactly is "realistic"?? Whose version of reality does that fall under?


M I N E

 

[talloola]

You assume in the mythology because it does not fit into your self-conceived expectations. We call it myth because we cannot define it, ,

No. I use my intelligence and decide that I don't BELIEVE it.

For example, I have a brother who is a year younger than me.

Your brother is a real person, you know him very well, but of course you can't know everything there
is to know about him, but you do know he is 'REAL.

God is like that in a way,
NOT REAL

 

[talloola]

The question of the Ages...

I don't know if I can articulate a concise response of my personal understanding, but I can suggest that you revisit "The Wisdom of Solomon" and we could discuss..if you like..My version is in the New English Bible so that we are looking at the same thing.

For the context of this forum, I'll say those who seek Wisdom are Seeking God

Wisdom and intelligence and curiosity and "thinking for yourself" all are connected, and I have
strived for all of those things throughout my life, (and I don't believe in God and I am not seeking God.)
and I believe I am having good success in that department, but I am becoming much wiser as I grow
older and my intelligence is in tact, and I never cease to be very curious about many things, and I
believe very strongly in "our" ability to "think" and I have encouraged all my children to do the same,
and it pleases me to see them doing the that. None of my childen believe or seek god, and there have
been many discussions and questions on the subject as they grew up, they then, went on to make up
their own minds, as I encouraged them to do.

 

[sel1234]

saaptu

Life's purpose is always to live for God and then only, you can check, you can have the full satisfaction in life.:roll: