Survival- The Meaning of Life
Posted: Sunday, July 29, 2007
by Ken McCreless
RMS1437
I have read many and varied theories about the meaning of life. Many seem to be poetic in natu
re, but the reality is this - Survival.
Survival is the meaning of life. Why do we go to work? To survive and provide survival supplies for our loved ones. Why do we love? To survive- the human race would have died out long ago otherwise. Why do we hang around other people? To survive. Have you ever had a loved one go away, either to another geographical location or dimensional plane? Did you feel like you would not survive? Did you survive? If you are reading this, I suppose you did, but how? You took steps to ensure your survival, that's how! You wrote letters or sent care packages or volunteered or made donations in your loved ones name. You loved and received love.
It's important to point out the difference between wants and needs. "Wants" will overpower needs everytime- without failure or hesitation. In order for a need to be filled it must first be converted to a want. Addictions of all sorts are proof of this. A food addict, taken to the extreme of morbid obesity, needs to lose weight, but must first want to lose weight. The same goes for each and every addiction. Help is utilized only after the need is transformed to a "want." When driving on the beach in my 4 wheel drive truck I would never ask the driver of a stuck vehicle if he needed help, as that was obvious, but if he wanted help.
Survival is knowing which "wants" to want. Would you want to be helped if you needed it? Is there someone in your life who needs you but does not want you? Do you need to be needed or want to be needed? Everyone loving everyone else is a lovely sentiment, but hardly practical- but it is fruitful. Those who need your love enough to want it are those to focus on, though.
Can this world survive? I don't kow. Don't look to religion to save you as religion only wants to force its dogma on the masses in order to ensure its own survival. Look to the One who made us- the One who needed us, then wanted us so much that He created us. You do not need a 44 million dollar cathedral with handcarved statues from Italy (the shipping costs alone could feed a small community for a year)- only a heart whose need has translated into a want of Spirituality.
The Power to Survive. I see it in the eyes of my children and grandchildren, as well as the patients and their families of the NICU where I work. I see it in the actions of individuals of endlessly various backgrounds who unselfishly work in the interest of others- most total strangers.
The meaning of life? Ensuring the survival- physical, spiritual and emotional- of our brothers and sisters of all nations; whether we agree with their politics or not. I may be somewhat of an idealist, but so be it. We can never again have the Garden of Eden, but we must pursue it, nevertheless.
Ken McCreless is just a guy who loves to write, and was born to do so. He is a freelance writer with several projects ongoing, including books and magazines. A huge fan of both irony and history, Ken has dedicated his life and his writing to serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Idealism is a concept most people do not have the courage to confront. For idealism is going from the real to the real. If I could give you more than only one vote for your article I most certainly would. I don’t attend church services, but your article was all the sermon I needed on this Sunday… thank youThank you, David. Folks sometimes are surprised to learn my dad was a Baptist preacher.
Ken, thank you for sharing your wonderful sentiments. I guess I am an idealist as well and I agree with David, if I could vote more than once for you on this, Ken, I would. Thank you again!Thank you, Judi. I am grateful to be a minion among such great writers.
I had an epiphany yesterday. The epiphany was that survival is the meaning of life. Today, I searched for this on google and came across your article. Exactly! I couldn't agree more. The only problem is that life seems all too trivial now. It's as if I am now an outsider looking in. That's scary, right?I know how you feel. We can get such a surrealistic feel of our world, our life. I prefer to keep my eye on Jesus, regardless.Thank you so much for reading and commenting!Yes it is scary. Everybody expects some comfort in the meaning of life and, for that matter, that life has meaning. Nobody ever said the search for the truth has to yield answers we like. On the other, in the words of Dennis Miller, "That's just my opinion. I could be wrong." In fact I sort of hope so.
We are no different from any other animal. We live to survive. It is survival of the individual and survival of the species. Most readily see this in the animal kingdom, but must attach something spiritual to humans. We are all made of the same stuff.
Religion is also about survival. It gives security and protection. It usually teaches us not to interfere with the survival of others. Unfortunately this does not make it real.
Sorry,I only skimmed your article. I am a realist. You are in my mind mired spirituality which in my mind has no basis in anything but wishful thinking and a belief in the meaningless concept of religious faith.
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