Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Insight 2: The Longer View

17 August 2012
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This insight made me very emotional. It almost brought me to tears. We keep moving further and further away from the purpose we are trying to find. Maybe there is a grander purpose for our existence on this planet, but it cannot be found in taking away the purposes of others who share the same life force. Living has become a rat-race to the grave. We have become expert consumers of goods to the detriment of our own habitat. I wonder what our view of living will be if we learned that no one would remember the accomplishments we made 2,000 years from now. I mean the little ones: the slaving for a paycheck, the cutthroat politics, the wars for oil and other various resources that kill thousands and hundreds of thousands of people. The great things that come from this will not be remembered, and so, in the grand scheme of things, they don’t matter. However, take a look at what we are doing to our world to achieve these things. We behave as if this rat-race is the end-all-be-all of existence. If we continue to behave like this, it will be.

I keep wondering if 1,500 years into the future, someone will look back, much like our main character does in the novel, to see what we did with our time on earth. What sort of psychological, philosophical, ethical, spiritual, footprint will we leave on the earth for others to see? That is what we need to worry about. The footprints we leave. The more pressing matter which leads into this is that we need to find a better way to exist on this planet, or it won’t matter what sort of footprints we leave as the earth will be gone.

Since I am a Christian, I understand the world a certain way. I remember reading early in Genesis that God gave man the purpose of having dominion over all of His creation. This is in chapter 1. In chapter two, God gives man the purpose of caring for the garden in which he now lives. This is the purest sort of living, but I imagine Adam and Eve got very bored simply doing that, and there was a small tree calling out to them day by day. Eventually they succumbed to the temptation and ate the fruit. Upon eating the fruit, man went from living to simply existing. This was of course unavoidable. The question then becomes “how can we return back to the simple life of living, of caring for those who share the same life force, of respecting our habitat?” Well, it really is that simple. Care for those who share the same life force and respect your habitat. Simple and yet difficult to put into practice in this consumerist society.

I for one, feel trapped. I feel like I am trying to move a giant mountain by myself, but I guess the fact that the task is insurmountable shouldn’t stop me from doing all I can. How many people have the same thought running through their head? What if we got together, all of the doubters, and put our combined strength to the task.

The problem is that this change in thinking that requires me not only to take responsibility, but being an agent of the change, is far too difficult. It is better to remain blissfully asleep. I spoke with someone last night and learned that the way to get up and do something will come at the proper time.

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