Is there a meaning to life?Does it matter anymore?

by sleepy 2 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  sleepy

  What are we? what is the meaning of life? is there a God ?
  Are all questions that at one time I though I had the answers to or at least almost had the answers to.
  Now , well i don't know.

  The question I now consider is ,does it matter?

  Its tought to realise that all you have belived and followed for your entire life now seems to be wrong.
  I have many unanswered questions and there are many paths that I could take but I now feel that it may not be worth the effort anymore.
  After all the disscusions I had trying to prove Jehovahs witnesses were the true religion and feeling in my mind i had succeded i realise that my way of thinking was flawed .Why couldn't I see it at the time?

  I ask my self was my way of thinking wrong or was I given false information?
  I expect it was a bit of both.

  But that leaves me with a problem , how do I know this won't happen again?
  Although I feel I've grown in understanding and reasoning ability and feel I know more now than I used to how do I know when the next paradigm shift is going to occur.
  What changes of thinking will that bring?

  Is there such think as absoulute truth?
  Maybee thats just a manmade concept to help us deal with basic everyday things that cannot be applied absolutely.

  Is it possible to probe the deepest questions and find answers ? Perhaps its like the speed of light in order to reach it you have to put so much energy in it in effect becomes impossible to reach.
  Or is it like the difference between the quatum world and the large scale world ?
  In the quatum world the measurer affects the thing measured.
  In asking the deepest questions are we not measuring the world,? do we the measurer aeffect the thing measured do we effect what is truth and what is not or is there an absoulte truth independent of us out there ?
  If there is can we understand it?

  Yes I do want to know the answers and I will search for them.
• 

  individuals wife

  What are we? what is the meaning of life? is there a God ?

  In answer to your first question - I think we are special, unusual creatures who have a yearning to know more about our existence, we have a spirituality, a thirst for knowledge about our place in the universe. We are set apart from all the other creatures on this planet in these respects.

  In answer to your second question - well, if only I had the whole answer to that question... I feel that the meaning of life is to live it to the full, to utilise every moment, not waste a second. To love and be loved. To be happy and make others happy. To be responsible towards others and the world around you. We are very fortunate to have life and I feel that it is a waste if we do not try and do something useful with it.

  Now, your third question.... is there a God? Mmmmm, generally I do not believe in things unless I actually see them for myself, I am a sceptical person, things need to be proved to me, yet for all that I find myself very drawn to the concept of God. I had always been a religious person, attended different churches, listened to differing messages, studied a variety of belief systems. Then I found the JWs. Through their teachings I became afraid of God, I feared Him. I was afraid of His judgmental attitude and his behaviour towards people in the Bible. I was coming across new terminology - God is jealous, God was angry, God demands this, God demands that. No longer did I see him in the same light. When I da'd last year I left with no trace of faith left in me whatsoever, it had all been drained out of me, I was left with no opinions one way or the other, I just did not care anymore.

  Now, as time goes on and I am realising that the teachings of the society are twisted and judgmental I am finding the stirrings of my faith beginning to disturb me once again. It has been something that I have tried to suppress, I thought I had had enough of religion to last me a lifetime. Yet there is something there, a tiny piece of faith that has remained and is nagging me from within. I don't know what I shall do with it, whether I will pursue it or not, I don't know. It is so hard knowing which direction to go in.

  All I know is that I have come out of the JWs a whole lot wiser and know what I do NOT want to believe.

  As for the truth, it may be out there somewhere, I hope it is, and I hope that I do find it one day. I do believe though that no one religion has a monopoly with the truth and when I look around at the work of some of the churches who deal with homeless and needy and poor I realise that they certainly have more of the truth of Gods word than the JWs ever had. These churches really respond to the words of Jesus, they have the mark of true Christianity because they choose to imitate him.
• 

  MrMoe

  Does it matter? I suppose it depends on a person's individual viewpoints. If you believe in God and care about what he wishes you to do or you have a "fear of his wrath," then it would matter. If you do not believe in God and don't care, then I suppose it would not matter.

  Those who believe in a God would respect the fact that he gave us free will. Those that do not believe in God respect that most life forms, above all humans, have free will.

  I suppose it depends on where your priorities are focused.

  I yearn to understand, but unless I see signs from the heavens, I may never completely grasp the meaning to life, but that does not mean I will ever stop looking. I personally believe in God. Perhaps not the Hebrew genocidal God or the fat Buddha God or the other Gods people in history have "adopted" and "imagined," but I do believe in a God. And, if there is a God that created me and created life, then I want to please him. Unfortunately, God can not be proven or disprove at this point in time.

  What really matters is what is important to you and what feels right in your heart as an individual.