At some point in our lives most of us will ponder some massive questions:
- What is life’s meaning?
- Why am I here?
- What is my purpose?
These periods of questioning and reflection may be triggered by many different things; perhaps a personal crisis or tragedy, reaching a crossroads in our lives, being unfulfilled or bored by our monotonous ‘groundhog day’ routines or simply being overwhelmed by the pressures and unfairness of this world. For some of us the feeling may be summarised by the title of the Anthony Newley song, ‘Stop the world, I want to get off’.
It is like awakening in a strange and hostile land with no memory of who we are and where we came from. We desperately want to find our way back home, but where is home? We have forgotten who we really are and where we came from. To navigate the obstacles and traps which lie in our path we must search for our ultimate destination and find directions to get there.
Your destination is not a town, city or any other physical place in this world because the truth is that you did not originate in this world. You were spirit before you came here and you will return to spirit when you make the change called death. In fact you are spirit here and now, hidden within the physical body required to survive the conditions of this planet.
How can it be that so many people look in the mirror each morning and think the reflection they see is their entire being and that when they die it is the end for them? Is it any wonder then that this ‘dog-eat-dog’ world is now in such a sorry state? They are lost on their journey and seek comfort in the bright lights, the mundane and in the acquisition of possessions and power. Little do they realise the damage they inflict on their real self, their spiritual self, because when they return ‘home’ they will have to judge themselves for the wrongs they committed here.
Having taken a look at the bigger spiritual picture, let us now return to the meaning and purpose of life. Put simply, your ultimate goal is spiritual perfection and your time here opens up the opportunity to make significant spiritual progress through the test of experiencing the human condition.
Right now you are like steel being tempered in the furnace of life. How you handle the negative and positive experiences of this world and the choices you make will show you how far you have travelled spiritually in pursuit of that goal. This is why God has given you the gift of free will in order that you form your own judgements and take your own decisions according to the spiritual light that burns within you.
It may be likened to a parent and child relationship. Good parents do the best they can to let their child know right from wrong, but as the child grows they release the reigns to allow the child to make his own decisions and grow as a person. God’s duty towards you is no less.
God did not put you on Earth to abandon you. You asked to come to this environment where tough choices between good and evil have to be made on a regular basis. He equipped you with a road map for your journey in the form of His guiding words over the centuries on how to live our lives.
When you return back to eternal spirit you will reflect on your time here and see more clearly what this life’s meaning has been. Your mistakes and achievements in this world and how you dealt with success and failure will provide a yardstick of how far you have progressed along your journey of spiritual enlightenment. Use your time well and do not waste a single second of this precious opportunity.