The Questions of Life

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Throughout history, man has always been curious about the world and how it works.  We've asked endless questions about nature, biology, philosophy.  We explore new horizons, realms, and spaces.  We've discovered many amazing and astonishing things.  But for all we learn, experience, and create, we all come to the same inevitable questions:

  1. Where did we come from?
  2. Why are are we here?
  3. How should we live our lives?
  4. Where are we ultimately going?
These consequential questions have occupied the minds of some of the greatest thinkers of history.  These questions can be boiled down to four descriptors:
  1. Origin
  2. Meaning
  3. Morality
  4. Destiny
It doesn't take much to have these words or questions resonate with you personally.  I mean, who hasn't had the thought of "What am I even doing here?", or, "Where the heck am I going and what is my purpose, my meaning to this life of mine?"  These are all monumental questions, for which the answers undergird the very essence of ones existence.  After all, the purpose of your life is what should drive you to get out of bed, to eat, to love, to laugh, to cry.  This can have a temporal manifestation, such as my scholastic successes, my career successes, my family well-being, my personal health and wellness.  But...these questions, they are more than just a temporal notion that carries us through the current moment.  They are intertwined and interwoven together and each plays a role in the development and fulfillment of the other.

Where I'm from has implications on why I'm here.  How one should live morally and ethically, has implications on what my ultimate purpose ought to be.  You see, if we have no ultimate purpose, then we have no reasons to live in any specific morally just way, other than what suits our current need.  I mean, why should I, a purposeless and meaningless being, subject myself to any moral obligations that don't benefit my current whims and wants, if I have no ultimate purpose, other than my current state?  This is the essence of "nothing to loss."  If there is no ultimate purpose or meaning, then morality is lost in the chaos and indifference that ensues.  You see purpose, in my estimation, is closely related to hope.  If there is no purpose to mine or anyone else's lives, then what is there to hope for?  What drives you to do better?  To seek the good, the just, the beautiful, the lovely, the sublime?  Because in the end, there is, at bottom, emptiness, hope-less-ness, despair.  As Richard Dawkins wrote in The Blind Watchmaker:

"In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky, and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice.  The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference." (emphasis mine)

One wonders why there is an epidemic of loneliness and depression in our society today and you need only look at a lack of purpose, a lack of meaning, a lack of hope.  Dr. Cindy Trimm is the founder and CEO of Cindy Trimm Ministries and she characterizes the problem this way:

"Loneliness isn't caused by a lack of people, it's caused by a lack of purpose." (Emphasis mine)

There is a saying that you have to know where you came from in order to know where you're going.  Origin begets Destiny.  Meaning begets Morality.  Yet, Origin begets Meaning.  If I know why I'm here, I can know what I'm here for.  If I know what I'm here for, I can know how I ought to be living for it.  If I know why I ought to be living for my meaning, I can know where I'm ultimately destined.

This is a minor treatment for this topic and there's much more to be said, but please hear me when I say that there is an answer to all of these questions and it aligns with the way reality is. And it's good news...  The Gospel is the best explanation for the way things are.

Where did we come from?  God created us in His image.
Why are we here? To love God and be loved by Him.
How do I live? Live a moral and just life aligned with God's nature.
Where are we going? To live for the rest of time in the presence of God.

Again, I don't have the time nor space to address all the points expressed above, but over the course of this blog, we'll get there.  In the meantime, I submit to you a few sources that give sound treatment to the topic:
  1. "The Story of Reality", by Greg Koukl
  2. "The Reason for God:, by Tim Keller
  3. "Why I Believe", by D. James Kennedy
  4. "Mere Christianity", by C.S. Lewis
If you want a great introduction these topics and concepts, these are all a great start.

Until next time.

Graciously,

E. R. Jennings




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