I don’t understand what you mean.The capital of India is New Delhi.
The very existence of an afterlife gives our life meaning. Our lives are the foundation upon which our eternity will be built.
Your question is confusing? Which quote are you referring to with the question?
Because doesn’t this quote already answer you questions?
The existence of an afterlife does not give us any meaning. It is simply another mode of experience which is very reacher but at the end of the day it is simple meaningless experience.
My question is not confusing. It is plain and simple. I can formulate it as following. We enjoy our lives here and we could enjoy much more our afterlives later. Enjoying simply is a mode of experience and it cannot grant any meaning to our lives. So the main question is what was Go’d purpose for creating the universe.
Ok I’m following you now. I guess what confused me is “meaning”. Isn’t our experiences what creates the meaning of our lives?
I can easily explain what the meaning of my life is and why I am here. I guess in order to answer the question the first question that needs to be answered is: Have you discovered the meaning of your life, or the reason you are here?
As St Teresa of Avila put it,**“It is love alone that gives worth to all things.” **
The mere experience cannot possibly grant any meaning. We can say that love is a meaning but that is not ultimate one. So we should look for more otherwise our lives become meaningless and fall in the state of missery.
What is it? To love?
Love is the only thing that can sometimes give me comfort so sometimes I fall in the state of misery because I feel that Love cannot fulfill me as a meaning.
Love is something deep in our nature that we could depend on it in our earthly lives. You didn’t provide any reason that Love as a state of mind can grant any meaning to our lives.
Experience of happiness does not grant any meaning to our lives. We are partially happy in our earthy life and we can be more happy in the next life. So what?
Satisfaction is a state of mind which can be fulfilled when we need something. Satisfaction does not grant any meaning to our lives hence we can fall in state of misery once we get used to satisfaction.
We could die and rest in state of peace or we could fall in state of sanity living forever when there is no meaning in our lives. You need a meaning to live peacefully and eternally.
What is the meaning of your life being as a Christian?
How an eternal life can grant any meaning to you? The eternal life can simply put you in state of misery. Simply a permanent Hell.
I didn’t bring “Love” into the discussion Fhansen did. I also said experiences, plural. I agree we are incapable of showing love as God does and this is the reason we have to keep looking for more or our lives become meaningless.
Sure love is part of it but the meaning of my life is to use the incredible gifts God has given me to serve others. I always believed I was here for a reason, should have died when I was 6, and always try my best to put others first.
Yeah ups and downs are a part of life. Sometimes Love will fulfill us and sometimes it won’t. Sometimes I can love others so much that I forget about myself and why I am here. I feel your pain, I have been in that state of misery. My dad is slowly dying and I spend about an hour each day in that misery, it makes us feel empty inside. It is times like these I have to remind myself that God has a reason for giving me this pain. Someday I will understand why. It might be in this life or it might be in the next. But even this daily pain I feel is part of the meaning of life. I haven’t figured it all out yet. I guess that is why life is the journey and heaven is the destination. Sometimes the road is level and sometimes it is an easy coast down a hill. However, quite often it is steep and rocky and difficult to climb. But if we open our hearts and minds to God he will eventually show us that he was with us in these rocky times and these difficulties give as much meaning to our lives as the love does.
Love is simply an emotion. It cannot grant meaning.
You are mixing purpose with meaning when you said that you are here to serve others.
That is the point. We cannot possibly depend on Love since it is mere an emotion so it goes up and down. Meaning is what we need.
That is life. Sometimes is up and sometimes is down. I have no idea why it should be like this. I suppose you know and accept it considering the fact that you are a believer. That should be duty of Church to explain this to you.
Thank you.
If a person experiences it on the scale that God can grant, then they realize that love, alone, is what makes life worth living. It’s much more than a mere emotion; it’s the reason, motivation, and power behind life itself. It’s the cause of most of our own actions as well because we’re drawn to that which we love. The problem is that we don’t* know* love in its pure and highest form; we don’t even look for it because we settle for lesser, vain, and futile things to satisfy our primordial need for it. But we’re actually here to look for it. As we seek God, we seek love. To the extent that we find God, we find love.
Satisfaction is complete once union with God is complete, which only occurs on a permanent or static basis in the next life. Here we only taste of Him, more or less profoundly depending on the level of revelation He grants us. In any case, “God alone satisfies”, as Aquinas put it.