| The Purpose-of-Life Blog |
|
| What Am I Here For? |
|
 Welcome! You can participate in this primitive blog on the purpose of life with your comments sent to me, Herb. |
August 26, 2008 Who I Am And What I Am Here Forby a remote descendant of Adam and Eve To begin with -- Adam and Eve were not the beginning. We begin with the Big Bang. That’s the cute name for the origin of the Universe which is our home. Our present day scientific co-workers become very silent when we ask the key question, "And what was there before the "Big Bang?" They shake their heads and smile. "Are you suggesting there was nothing?" "Right. No Thing. The job of science is to describe and compare and explain physical objects. Before the Bang there were no objects." "Okay. The good word then is mystery." A time when Earth didn’t exist; when the sun didn’t exist; when there wasn’t a universe. Just nothing at all. Mystery. That is what puts us on the new path. The "Who Am I?" question is not about a physical thing. It’s about the mystery of my consciousness. Definitely consciousness is mystery, because I cannot step outside and examine and describe and analyse it. I am always inside. But here is a wonderful clue that brings us closer to the "Who Am I?" question. Consciousness creates bodies. Isn’t that what the human scene is all about? We are very busy producing, forming, manufacturing, inventing all kinds of new things -- new bodies -- houses to live in, autos to travel in, farms to feed our hungers, clothing to keep us warm, and on and on. Yes! And factories, and airplanes, and space ships to take us to Mars, and more. And isn’t that what the universe scene is all about? The Creator Consciousness is what produces, forms, manufactures, invents all kinds of things: galaxies, suns, planets, continents, oceans, and at the heart of all the big stuff, protons and electrons, followed by plants and animals and dinosaurs and mammals and apes and humans! The Creator Consciousness made it all! Now we are standing on the threshold of our first big question: Who am I? I am not a thing. I am consciousness. "I" am not a body. I am spirit -- like the Creator of the universe -- a consciousness. Bodies die. Consciousness never dies. Now maybe we are ready to touch base with the most awesome invention of the universe -- with Adam and Eve, our original ancestors. The Creator Consciousness produced not just some more bodies, but a new consciousness, a new species, to which we humans have given the name "Homo sapiens" -- the wise one. Humankind, as male and female, is a creation, a creature that is full of new energy and life and imagination. Adam and Eve. The very first thing to note about this couple is that they become conscious of being a self. We tend to take "self-consciousness" for granted, but it is very unique. It says I am separate. It says, "I am not you." "I am different." "I am unique ." It also leads us to imagine that we are not connected to the Creator of all that is. Homo sapiens early-on got very busy imagining that God the Creator resided in a distant heaven far beyond the blue dome of the sky. Totally different. Remote. And most serious of all "selfhood" led us to selfishness. "I belong to me!" "I’ve got to get what’s mine!" "I will fight to be a winner!" "I -- I -- I --!" The name of the game is power. I have the power to produce what I want. I am able to fight back against others who abuse me. I can destroy what I hate. And when selfish individuals get together to win more and more for themselves at last they indulge in warfare. Yes, at last with guns and bombs they become organized and willing to kill and destroy their own brothers and sisters. Yes! Their own kind. Their own species. And also even destroy their own planet Earth, on which they depend totally for survival. And that at last brings our story to the big question beyond the "Who am I?" which is "What am I here for? The great vision that we have missed is a profoundly deep question which leads to a wonderful answer. For what did the Creator make the universe? Pause there. -- Be very careful. -- Get your imagination keyed up to do the best job ever! Before the beginning the Creator would be all alone. Right? But after the beginning the Creator had a reality that could receive love! Yes! The motive for the beginning of Creation was the joy of loving! Even though the first creatures were not able to return love. And then came the next big goal -- a long way down the 15 billion year path of Creation was the human species that was designed to return love to the Creator. That is the beginning answer to our big second question. What am I here for? To love the Creator and all that is. Truly we are invited to become Junior Partners of the Creator. That is the purpose of life. But today we are still trapped in our self-consciousness. Our separateness. This is where the great spiritual leaders of the planet Earth step up to the front with the beautiful "Secret" of what we all need to do to enter the new world that is waiting for us. The "Secret" should be very obvious now. The Creator who makes all bodies is embodied in all that is. In the language that Church people use, that is the Incarnation. That is "what I am here for." The purpose of life for me. To abandon my separate self-hood, and to accept my connectedness to the Creator and all that is and to love it all with joy. This is what the spiritual leaders of humankind have been plugging for several thousand years: Jesus, Gautama, Mohammed et al. Love what is. Which means in everyday terms: serve the needs of others: parents, mate, children, neighbors, enemies, whoever irritates us, etc.! Don’t compete with them to see how much more you can grab for self. Help them to find what they need to live a life full of love: They all need the stuff of everyday living and friendship. Your friendship, your caring, your love. This is what will transform your life so that you become a real winner. But now let us pause once more as we face a language problem. Love actually is a most complex word in our usage. We start out by thinking how teen-agers "fall in love," finally get married, create a family, and on and on. But there is much, much more. Meditate on these words from the dictionary: feeling / emotion / attitude / action / intention / deed / behavior / blessing / praise / bonding / embracing / healing / honor / intercede / touch / teach / truth / improve / commune / hug / trust / neighborly / kiss / community / giving / wooing / caress / forgive / tenderness / befriend / accept / support / passion / concern / liking / adore / fondness / patience / understanding / loyalty / worship / connection -- and many more. We are called to love not out of duty but with joy. And especially now we are called to reach out to planet Earth. When you love her you will work to end global warming. You will plant a vegetable garden in your own yard. You will shrink down the automobile culture. You will challenge corporate America. With joy. That’s what we are here for. All of us. Welcome to Junior Partnership -- and life beyond death! --Herb |
For copies, order from:
Amazon
or Eddy Publishing
Site managed by Herb and Margaret's son Larry The Circuit Detective