Life's
Meaning & Purpose
“Life
is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it. The meaning of life
is whatever you ascribe it to be. Being alive is the meaning.”
Joseph
Campbell
My
friend, Harry, read me a quote yesterday that said, essentially, “you
aren't sacred because of what you believe, you are sacred because you
were born.” Life is like an open prairie where all the building
blocks and tools are scattered upon the land; all we need do is
decide which blocks and which tools to use in building. Whether you
are at the beginning of life, in the middle, or at the end, you are
the one who gives each day meaning. Because you happen to have been
born with a body and a mind, filled with energy, and having the
capacity to create, you are the architect of your life's purpose.
Some
of us seem to be born knowing our purpose, and some of us have to try
lots of tools. We knock together something we think may be right,
only to find that it is not. We move on to the next, and the next.
The key is having the courage to move on when we discover that
misfit. Each time we do, we carry new skills into the next project.
Sometimes, however, we get stuck for reasons that have nothing to do
with meaning or purpose. Joseph Campbell said, for instance, the
person who devotes his/her life solely to making money is,
simply put, a slave.
Some
of us are willing to do the hard work—the excavation, the digging
required to lay a firm foundation for purpose and meaning. We may
even discover treasure while we're down there in the deep. And, some
of us sit on the surface, and wonder why it's not simply revealed to
us by an act of God. After all, we're believers! But, you see, God
has provided the prairie, the building blocks, and the tools—it's
up to us to build the structure.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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