Purpose of Life
Question from on 08-06-2007:
My sister-in-law and I were returning from a bible study class on the Book of Job and she seemed to be concerned as to what her purpose in life was. She's a devoted wife, mother & grandparent. We are both in our middle sixties. I think as we age this question arises alot. I guess in our culture the terminology might be "Am I fulfilled"? How do we know the purpose of our lives? How do we know that we are doing what God wants of us?
Answer by Richard Geraghty on 08-11-2007:
Dear Paul,
That's a good question. When we come towards the end of the trail, we look back to the dreams we had when we were young and then look at the way things have worked out. And as you pointed out, we ask if we have been fulfilled. The answer is definitely "no" if we are asking whether all our youthful dreams have been fulfilled. Instead we discover that we have been plodding along like our parents and grandparents, doing the best we good by being faithful and dutiful. In one sense that seems to be a rather dull outcome from all the dreams we had. But in another mood we feel quite satisfied when we think about our children. But sometimes that can be painful. At this point we start thinking about heaven. At least I do. We were not meant to live out our whole life on this earth. We were meant to love as best we could and then enjoy the face of God for all eternity in heaven. So all those vague dreams we had of happiness when we were young does have a meaning. The meaning is that fulfillment will not happen on this earth. That is what heaven is for. Being dutiful and faithful are not the virtues valued very much by the young. They take them for granted when they look at their parents but still think the old folks are rather dull. Well, they have a lot to learn about life. My father used to say: "Life wasn't meant to be easy--and it isn't!" Being steadfast and dutiful is our glory here. Leaping about like stags or does in love is for heaven.
Dr. Geraghty
Question from on 08-06-2007:
My sister-in-law and I were returning from a bible study class on the Book of Job and she seemed to be concerned as to what her purpose in life was. She's a devoted wife, mother & grandparent. We are both in our middle sixties. I think as we age this question arises alot. I guess in our culture the terminology might be "Am I fulfilled"? How do we know the purpose of our lives? How do we know that we are doing what God wants of us?
Answer by Richard Geraghty on 08-11-2007:
Dear Paul,
That's a good question. When we come towards the end of the trail, we look back to the dreams we had when we were young and then look at the way things have worked out. And as you pointed out, we ask if we have been fulfilled. The answer is definitely "no" if we are asking whether all our youthful dreams have been fulfilled. Instead we discover that we have been plodding along like our parents and grandparents, doing the best we good by being faithful and dutiful. In one sense that seems to be a rather dull outcome from all the dreams we had. But in another mood we feel quite satisfied when we think about our children. But sometimes that can be painful. At this point we start thinking about heaven. At least I do. We were not meant to live out our whole life on this earth. We were meant to love as best we could and then enjoy the face of God for all eternity in heaven. So all those vague dreams we had of happiness when we were young does have a meaning. The meaning is that fulfillment will not happen on this earth. That is what heaven is for. Being dutiful and faithful are not the virtues valued very much by the young. They take them for granted when they look at their parents but still think the old folks are rather dull. Well, they have a lot to learn about life. My father used to say: "Life wasn't meant to be easy--and it isn't!" Being steadfast and dutiful is our glory here. Leaping about like stags or does in love is for heaven.
Dr. Geraghty
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