What is the Meaning of Life, Considering that we all Die?
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November 30, 2020Sometimes I used to find myself thinking about the meaning of life and the future I wanted. Would all my dreams come true? Would I get a job I liked? Would I be able to raise a family like I had imagined? Would I, would I, would I. These are questions that are part of youth, and they were mine too.
In addition to all these unanswered questions, there was something else that troubled my heart: death! Even if all my wishes were fulfilled, what good was it? Sooner or later, like all human beings, I would grow old and die. Why build so much if I couldn’t take anything with me? What's the point of all this?"Now the world and its concupiscence are passing away, but whoever does God's will
remains forever" (1 John 2:17).
It is God who gives meaning to our brief life; only He can give us immortality! As our founder would say, “This is not the real life, but only the test to enter into it." How many times do we put all our efforts into the present life – even knowing that it is fleeting – and forget about the eternal life which we have yet to obtain?
Who would buy a house by the sea knowing that in winter it would be destroyed by high tide? Why invest so much in something that would last for so short a time? It seems strange, but that’s what happens when we stake everything on a life that lasts only 100 years (if that long) without even thinking about building a home for Eternal Life. Following the logic of the world, everything that is achieved during life becomes someone else's inheritance, since these goods cannot come with us after death. Following God's logic, if we strive to do His Will, each achievement will be the inheritance we will receive in eternal life; nothing is lost, everything is gained. As Saint Augustine says: “Each one is just like what he loves. Do you love earth? You will be earth. Do you love God? What shall I say? You will be god. I dare not say it on my own. Let us listen to the Scriptures: ‘I said you are gods and you are all sons of the Most High God.’”
What about you? Where are you building your dwelling-place? Where are you putting your love: on earth or in God? What inheritance awaits you?
