To those who need no purpose in life

by gumby 80 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  gumby

  After reading the comments from many on the thread "Is there a purpose in life" by ItsJustMe , posted a couple of days ago I am confussed.
  I cannot understand how anyone can be content and not believe life has a purpose.
  To not be compelled to wonder how all the design around us is just here because who knows why ......totally baffles me.
  At this point in my life believe in a creator but have so many unanswered questions. Things do not make sense in the bible.
  If I were to come to believe that the bible WERE a fairytale of myths...I would feel as stupid as I did when finding out the Borg was a crock.
  I also would be emotionally devastated.
  Here are some samples of your comments about lifes purpose

  We may have been put here by someone, or we may not have. If we have, then perhaps there is a purpose to life and he or she ain't talking. If we have not, then there really is no purpose to life.Either way could be valid.

  Long after the next extinction event, an as-yet unseen appendage will hold a fossil human skull and gazing upon it, something will ask, "What was this? What did it do?"

  So, why not accept the universe as being like the body,
  automatic in function, no conscious thinking necessary
  to make it work continuously? It's just a vast, spooky
  non-local mechanism that needs no conscious direction,
  just like the body.
  
  I ask myself - *What is my purpose in being here?* My answer is this. Who cares? I am the product of two people's experiments with reproduction. Now my job is to help other people and enjoy life as much as I can.
  WHAT ARE SOME OPINIONS OF YOU OTHERS???????
• 

  gumby

  Whoops folks...I screwed up on pasting 3 times. Sorry
• 

  SixofNine

  If I were to come to believe that the bible WERE a fairytale of myths...I would feel as stupid as I did when finding out the Borg was a crock.
  I also would be emotionally devastated

  Hogwash. You'll be fine.

  The sun will come up the next day, as it always does, and you, if it is your habit, may well brew a wonderful cup of coffee from beans picked by peasants who have always known that the bible is a book of other peoples' myths.
• 

  D wiltshire

  Gumby,

  Part of the joy of living is trying to find answers.
  Don't let anyone tell you they have found all the answers, and beleive it.
  When we come out of a Cult that claims to have all the answers, and we find out they were lies, we feel like we need to find some one that has all the answer.
  If we let that feeling guide us we will probably find ourselves in another cult.

  Don't be afraid to question.
  Don't be afraid to question authority, because authority to me is just another pressure to come under mind control.

  Embrace your freedom, live it, question it, and come to your own conclusions.
  And change your conclusions as often as you see the need.

  If someone lived a trillion X longer than you, and had a billion X more reasoning ability would he come to the same conclusions as you?
• 

  Richie

  Gumby, you pasted your message 3 times...You can edit your comments back to one post...I guess you didn't know that? Well, now you do LOL.
  And by the way - I do believe that there IS a purpose in life as much as I believe there is a caring God, and you know what....? Most others on this board do believe this as well!

  Richie :*)
• 

  radar

  Grumpy

  You can get swollowed up looking at the big picture.
  It was one of the main reasons I joined the Borg, I thought they had the answer to your/my question.

  Now? I almost envy ignorance, for it does not see the futility.

  Radar

  Like all people who have nothing, I lived on dreams
• 

  refiners fire

  Relax Gumby. Gods sent me no less than 3 direct communications THIS week. Things are looking up. Pretty soon, I hope, He will reveal everything to me and then I ll reveal the Truth to one and all, just give me a little more time. I have been told somethin REAL big is going to happen. It wont be nice.Even getting a date coming through. 2012.
• 

  Seeker

  Gumby,

  Since mine was one of the comments you quoted, allow me to explain my views on this subject. First, though, stop and take a look at my handle, a good hard look. See what it says? See what it means? It means I am seeking truth. Not that I have found it, or that I have all the answers, only that I am constantly learning and trying to understand. Please don't feel I am saying my way is the only way, for who am I to say that?

  Secondly, I was once where you are now, and I know well the feeling of panic that can come over a person when they realize what they believed is no longer true. All I can suggest is that you take things one day at a time, and try not to gulp it all down in one serving. I took years to get to this point. And where you will go may be an entirely different destination. Figure out what's right for you.

  Finally, how can I cope without a purpose in life? Easy, really. As SixofNine said, the sun comes up every day, and I rise to greet another day full of wonder. I mean that, the universe is full of wonder for me. I need no Creator to make it so. I do not let the scientific explanation for a star prevent me from marveling at its beauty and magnificance. I do not let the explanation for man's evolutionary development make me forget how beautiful a woman's eyes can be.

  Life is poetry. The poetry is there whether or not you feel there is a purpose. You have a purpose? Great! Enjoy it. You don't have a purpose? Fine, enjoy life anyway. Regardless of our views of the universe, we can both stop to smell the roses along the way.

  I wish you peace and contentment in your journey. The journey is its own reward.
• 

  Frenchy

  I almost envy ignorance, for it does not see the futility.

  I understand exactly what you're saying, Radar.

  Gumby:
  I understand how you feel. I'm one of those persons who cannot be content with just accepting the wonder of life as it is without wondering about there being a purpose behind it. I suppose that some can. They post here that they are perfectly happy just enjoying their lives and then when it comes to an end, so be it. If they say it's that way with them then I will not and cannot argue. They know how they feel.

  For me, however, there is something that tells me that this should not be the all of the matter. Something inside of me wants to continue on, something that does not want to accept this 'natural' thing death. Since death is inevitable I find it hard to rationalize why we are able to contemplate it with such dread. I'm not talking about the self-preservation mechanisms that come into play when our lives come into imminent danger but rather the ability to look ahead and see death and feel a sadness at knowing our end is coming. If it's so natural why the dread?
• 

  Seeker

  Frenchy

  Those are heartfelt questions. Here's my take on why we feel dread about the idea of death even though it's universal and natural. I'm speaking purely from evolutionary perspectives here. We exist to propagate the species. Beyond that, we have no purpose. Until man developed a consciousness of his surroundings that exceeded that of animals, death wasn't anticipated. Now, it's very advantageous to have this awareness that humans have, but one of the down sides is that we can anticipate our own deaths. Since we normally enjoy life, who wants it to end? Thus the dread of death. We can see it in others and extrapolate to our own life, a unique ability in the natural world.

  So it's natural, but not pleasant, and that's how they both fit. We have developed the ability to foresee our own actions, a wonderful gift that comes with a great caveat: we do not look forward to everything we foresee. Thus it's perfectly natural to die, and yet we do not wish it to be so.

  "Wish" is the operative word. You even used a similar word, "want," when describing why you yearn to know a purpose. You "want" there to be more, and that emotional reaction (perfectly understandable) makes you think there must be more. But there doesn't have to be more, even if we wish it so. Wishing does not make it so. The evolutionary explanation, while not accepted by all, does provide a logically-consistent explanation for this issue.