The Purpose of Life

 

So, I have a very dear friend I dearly love and admire. I stop by now and again for a cup of tea (or, depending on the weather, a glass of ice tea) and conversation in which we generally try to solve one of the problems of the world, the human race, and the church.

Oh, you think I'm kidding. I am not.

Don't believe me? Just watch.

 

Yesterday, my friend told me that she and her daughter were having a conversation over dinner about "The purpose of life". (See what I mean?). 

 

Her daughter remembered one of her college classes in which someone asked, "What is the purpose of life?" 

 

And the professor answered, "The purpose of life is procreation." 

 

My friend thought that was spot on and expounded on how every single form of life on planet earth - not just humans - had the ability to reproduce itself. 

 

What about those humans who are unable to reproduce, I asked. Well, she said, the rest of the tribe makes up for that. 

 

Yeah, I didn't find that a satisfactory answer. There may have been more - probably was - but I confess that's all I heard because I was flipping through the dictionary in my head to try to understand what she and her daughter and her professor meant by "purpose". And, actually, "life". 

 

Let's just say that my understanding is broader - less restrictive, more expansive - than the basis from which her daughter's professor started, which seemed to me to be (too) narrowly focused on biology.

 

I can't do that. I can't separate my gonads from my brain or my heart or my soul. 

 

So, since about 6:30 this morning I've been hanging out in my library on the shelf where I store my OED (Old English Dictionary), looking up words. 

 

You may know that I am a self-avowed, unrepentant, practicing Inkheart.

 

Before I can even begin to respond to a statement like that, I have to look up and unpack a few words like "purpose" and "life" and settle on a definition that works for me.

 

I think life is so much more than biology and therefore, the definition of the purpose of life can not be narrowly restricted to biology. 

 

And, because of who I am, it includes an understanding of God's action/interaction in the world, and God's purpose for creating humankind. 

 

I don't know how we can talk about the purpose of life without at least some postulation about why God created us. (I know, I know, my soul and my mind have probably been permanently scarred by the Baltimore Catechism.)

 

I also want to say that my definition includes, to a greater or lesser degree, all of life - all the various forms of creation that the professor included: humans, plants, animals, etc.

 

Here's what I'm willing to say, at least as a start: The purpose of life is to be a co-creator with God. This includes pro-creation, re-creation, and creativity. (The root of the word 'creation' (Proto-Indo-European) 'ker' means 'to grow'). 

 

So, at a very basic minimum - by which I mean, taking God out of the equation - the purpose of life is to grow - which includes growing others (procreation), continuing creation (re-creation), and mimicking or imitating (and therefore compliment) the source/creator of life which is creativity. 

 

This, for me, anyway, has resonance with the Ancient Creation Stories in many different cultures: Hebrew Scripture, the Greek story of Gaia, the various Indigenous or First People stories (Hopi, Seneca, Wichita, Apache, etc.), the Norse people, or the stories of the creation of Japan and China. 

 

That said, one of the major themes of the purpose of life in most of the ancient stories of creation is HOME - to make (create) or find a home and/or to find or build (create or re-create) a pathway back home to God/the Gods. 

 

It is in/from this HOME that one procreates and re-creates, engages in generativity (to ensure a personal legacy and the promotion of the species), and expresses creativity. 

 

Ram Dass said, "We're all just walking each other home." 

 

I love that. He was talking about finding our wholeness – knowing who we are at the deepest and most profound levels of our being and building our lives upon that foundation (i.e. the purpose of life).

 

We're all just walking each other home. We need each other.

 

So, yeah, I tackled all of that while making the coffee and doing the laundry and making my bed, and putting some spit and polish on my sermon while sitting out on the deck, watching the morning come into itself. 

 

You know - being right smack dab in the midst of the purpose of life. 

 

Don't I have fabulous friends? And don't we just have marvelous conversations as we're walking each other home?

 

So, now I'm off to spend some time on other Really Big Thoughts. I'm doing Monday's meditation for my Hospice Team and I want to hang out with Ram Dass and other gurus 

 

There is a tradition of spiritual teachers planning their last words. Zen masters compose a poem.

Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche said, "Never forget how swiftly this life will be over - like a flash of summer lightning or the wave of a hand." 

 

Ramakrishna said, "O mind, do not worry about the body. Let the body and its pain take care of each other. Think of the Holy Mother and be happy." 

 

The Buddha said, "'Everything is subject to change. Remember to practice the teachings earnestly." 

 

The Sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, said about death, "Nothing happens."

 

Ram Dass said, "I think, first, if you have something important to say, say it now. Say you love someone now. Forgive someone now. Don't wait."

 

"Second, live in the moment. Know that moments are not in time. They are not in the world of the clock, the changing seasons, the process of growing old. Moments are in soul time. Live in the soul. Then you'll be ready for the moment of death." 

 

"As you get closer to death, your intuition gets stronger. You'll know when you are getting closer. Forgive yourself and others. When Christ says, 'I am making all things new,' it's the same as living in the here and now and starting fresh in every moment. When you are really in this moment, everything is new, and the moment of death is just another moment." 

 

Which leads me to believe that the real purpose of life is to love one another and eat each other's cooking and say it was good. 

 

So, I might have to bake something this afternoon. But first, another load of laundry. Because it's Saturday and the purpose of life on a Saturday is laundry. 

 

Have a great Saturday, everybody. Enjoy your life this day, however you understand its purpose.