The Mystery of Life

So I am sitting here, just thinking. I could have written on socio-economic issues related to Bongoland, but my mind just can't. How could I write about politics and such in the midst of a tragedy that happened in Detroit, where our Tanzanian brother and sister - Walter and Vonetha - lost their lives in an horrible manner? I know life has to move on, but probably not too soon ...

As my mind races, I couldn't have stopped but wondered on the mystery of life. I couldn't have wondered on the meaning of life. I mean, why are we here? Why I am here? Was I created to just be here - work, eat, go to the bathroom, shower, sleep, marry, and dress good? Do I have a higher purpose than that?

I have not read this book, but I know Dr. Rick Warren has written a book called A Purpose Driven Life. I am convinced he wrote the book out of questioning the same questions that seems to cross my mind so often.

My conviction that we are created for a higher purpose. I am convinced that we were created to have a fellowship with God. We were created to worship Him. A friend of mine once told me that human beings are naturally worshippers. That could be a hard concept to grasp, but it is true. The only distinction between individuals is what they worship. Given that a human being is a worshipper, he or she would worship something that is above or below them. No one can avoid that.

In simple terms, worship is equivalent to idolizing - to love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess. So you can either worship your creator - who is higher, or you can worship things that are below you - money, men or women, material possessions, looks etc. None of us can avoid worshipping something. I am fully convinced that we don't have to worship lower things. We only do that due to our lack of knowledge or spiritual ignorance.

Let me paint a clear picture for you. I draw my religious and faith guidance from the Bible, so I will go there for the basis of my arguments. The Bible clearly tells in Proverbs 1:7 that "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge...". From that verse, we can clearly deduce that we lack knowledge because we don't have fear of God. What does that mean? It means you will always worship the wrong things as long as you have a crappy relationship with your creator. That is because running from God only multiply one's ignorance.

Another intriguing fact is that due to ignorance we fail to recognize our proper place in the scheme of things. We were created to take dominion over the things of life. That is God's original plan. It is written in Genesis 1:28 that "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth". So why are we letting money, food, clothes and all other things that we were supposed to have dominion over, control our lives? It is because we are ignorant, which comes from not having a relationship with God.

It is kind of a vicious cycle: You run from God -- You become spiritually ignorant -- You worship the wrong things -- You run from God even more -- You become spiritually ignorant...and the cycle continues.

See, this is what the Bible says in Matthew 6:33 that "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you" ("all these things" refer to money, food, and all that issues of life that pre-occupy our minds away from God).

So what's the moral of the story? The moral of the story is that you and I are not created to just float by. We are created for a greater purpose - and that purpose could be realized by worshipping higher, and not lowly things. I only testify of one thing - worshipping lower has never fulfilled me, but worshipping higher has given me an unspeakable peace and joy.

What about you? We can talk about politics and analyze things, but is that it? Is that all?