I spent my years immersed in religion and philosophy both eastern and western searching for the meaning of life. I feel I found it in a film called THE RAZORS EDGE.
"When Piedmont died saving me, I knew I had to pay him back by living a good life. Along the way I learned there is another debt we all owe for the privilege of being alive."
I could rephrase this thusly for me:
"When I got off drugs, and I'd made such a mess of my life, I knew I had to try to pay back some of what I'd taken from this world. Along the way, I learned there's a deeper debt we all owe for the honor of being alive".
The so-called 'meaning of life' is simply being aware that life is a gift, a gift that costs...God, Ultimate Reality, 'The World', whatever. And a life lived not as someone who is owed, but who owes, is a meaningful life. The secret to a happy and meaningful life s simply realizing that are not owed, you owe, simply due to the honor of being alive. The meaning of life is the awareness of this debt. It is not a debt you can pay back, but you can try.
So where does Christianity fit into all this? Well, it seems to me Jesus Christ is in some way a living revelation of this truth. What are the Gospels, but a narrative about the cost God bears for creation and salvation? What are they, if not the playing out of "debt" we all owe for the "honor of being alive."
What more do we possible have to be able to pay back a "debt" than to live a good life? To help people when they need it and make the world a little better of a place with a little less suffering?
ReplyDeleteI guess I'm just confused as to what you mean by a debt to pay back for being alive.
So how does one come to the belief of life as a gift? No I don't believe it and to be frank never have believed it. At best this I see life as a pointless pantomime before the main show and at worst some sentence imposed upon me which I must complete properly if I'm to be allowed to participate in the real life.
ReplyDeleteWithout diving into a maudlin tirade, how does one go about acquiring the belief in life as gift? I'm thinking this, and this alone, must be my focus from here forward. Any suggestions?
For me I see my life as a potential gift. I have always seen the worth of other people and decided while thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my life that what I really wanted to do was ease the pain of the world as much as I could. If my life can accomplish that, then my life has been a gift.
DeleteI don't know if that helps, I'm still thinking about the best way to say what I'm trying to say.
Kat, I don't think there is only one way to respond to life as a gift. It is an attitude, and it will inform your behavior naturally. If you seek to give back to the world, you will find many ways to live it out.
ReplyDeleteKevin, I don't know how to imprint this sense on someone. I guess in my case it flows from me almost losing my life. The Gospels themselves are important in this regard. Knowing what God gave so we can live. Meditation helps. Just experiencing existence at its most basic.
You also sometimes have to put the cart before the horse. Live as if life is a debt to be paid, and you will come to see it as a gift. In my experience those who live this way are the happiest.
ReplyDeleteI don't like the term debt. I think that's what's tripping me up here. I can't accept the thought that I was given life and put on this Earth to pay back for that. To me a debt is something that has to be paid, that you don't have an option and I suppose that you could argue that is exactly the case because you are so compelled by your beliefs. The prophets are sometimes talked about as being so compelled by God to prophesy that they couldn't do anything else, but each of them had to make the choice to follow that commitment. Moses has a long talk with God before he goes to Egypt, Jonah originally tries to flee and then gives in eventually (though I'm not sure he was ever really interested in saving the people).
ReplyDeleteBottom line thought is that having a choice makes doing the right thing matter. If all I had was a debt to pay back then anything I do that is good becomes meaningless, it's just what I am forced to do. I think a agree with the overall that life is a gift and should be treated as something that is precious and is worth choosing to do the right thing, but I don't think I have a debt that I am bound to pay.
Let me put it a different way that might make you more comfortable. Some gifts come with responsibilities. Think of a car. You have to get gas, and insurance, and if it was given to you, you have some responsibility not to wreck it. Further, if it cost someone something significant (say the giver gave up restaurants for a year to save to give it to you), it brings with it a extra layer of needed gratitude. Sure you COULD drag race the car or use it as a paper weight, but this would be wasting the gift. A gift that cost someone brings with it added responsibilities. One could say something similar with God and life.
ReplyDeleteI can (and do) accept that life has responsibilities. I would agree that embracing that responsibility makes life much more meaningful and that embracing it is hard. It comes with the "cost" of doing the right thing. (I put cost in quotes because doing the right thing might mean we don't do something and we may feel we missed out, but in the end I think that the outcome is better doing the right thing. That said, it isn't always easy to do the right thing, esp when it goes against a norm, e.g. drinking to get drunk, and the difficulty and any anxiety or negative reactions can be a cost.)
ReplyDelete