Finding meaning and purpose in life

This world is shot through with mystery. When contemplating this mystery it can be very easy to find yourself lost in a scary world of deep thoughts and questions. However this state of continual questioning can only keep us going so far, eventually we need to find something that gives our lives meaning and keeps us grounded. For some they draw this from religion, spirituality and God. Others draw meaning from science and the quest for knowledge; some even dedicate their lives to accumulating material wealth, sex, politics and fame. Just about anything you can think of someone has made it their life’s purpose.

Some of us are fortunate. We are born with a gift or ability that from the moment we’re born seem to be destined to excel in. I however, am not one of these people. I have no idea what I want to do with my life. My life remains a blurry, unplanned mystery. I’ve been through many phases in my life, from wanting to work in film and television, building and designing sets, acting, writing, personal training, wanting to be a fireman, becoming a cartoonist and currently wanting to study psychology and philosophy. I’ve worked in a pizza place, a video store, a news agent, a casino, a bus factory for a week; I was an electrician for a day, a labourer for 2 weeks and I currently work for a public transport company designing and planning bus routes, ha! Bet you didn’t see that coming. My personal beliefs went from a believer in God, to a fully fledged Christian, to a middle grounded agnostic! I’m probably the most indecisive person I know... I think, I dunno, I’m not really sure.

One of the things I’ve discovered about this uncertainty for one’s life ambition and meaning, Is just how common it is among us all, especially from people of my own generation. So if you ever thought you were alone in the scary unknown search for your life’s “purpose”, fear not! There are many of us! As for those of you who have got this all figured out, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a tad envious. But unfortunately certainty just isn’t an option for me; I’m yet to come across the instruction manual for my life with all the answers written down for me. So I’m forced to do the only thing I really can, search for meaning and purpose where I can find it. Let the adventure begin!

My problem with the secular world,

Like many, I find the pursuit of material goals very superficial. Unfortunately it seems the secular world today is pushing a lot of emphasis on the self. The value of a person in today’s society seems to gravitate towards personal wealth, how much money you have, your job and how many properties and cars you own. People more and more are sacrificing time with family for financial pursuits and mums and dads work longer hours away from kids just to keep up. People are often judged first hand from their occupation than how they treat others. The heroes we hold up aren’t the great humanitarians of our time, or the great scientists but the wealthy elite, the pop stars and movie actors.

The pressure to be “beautiful” on the outside is everywhere. Supermodels are considered icons and role models simply because they were born with “perfect” features. You can’t walk into a service station or a news agency today without being bombarded with magazines sprawled everywhere in plain view for our little ones to see showboating on their front covers men and woman photoshopped to perfection with unblemished skin and we spend billions of dollars a year on cosmetics while millions of people around the world still don’t have the bare essentials. I’m not the first person to realise this, we all know it. And most of us, including myself, indulge in this mad consumerist lifestyle regardless. Somewhere along the line we got our priorities mixed up!

The value in religion,

As critical as I am of religion, and despite its hesitancy towards change, its fear driving manipulation and its dogma pushing aspects. When stripped down to its core, I believe religion to be about finding meaning outside the “self”. If religion, instead of trying to become the centre of our moral lives, dedicated its energy into exploring spirituality and mysticism (where it does its finest work) and left us to figure out morality for ourselves, instead of shoving it down our throats for all the wrong reasons. I think we would see a great rise in the common interest in spirituality from the secular world.

Here is a great thought from a book I read recently on morality:

“The link between faith and morality, long accepted as part of the essence of religious life, has been challenged... It is good news for morality, as well. Instead of being the special province of paternalistic religious leaders, the power to make enlightened moral choices now passes to each individual, each family and each community. Liberated from the yoke of religious prescription, morality can quite properly be seen as a secular pursuit: we are not going to be ‘good’ because our religious beliefs demand it of us, or because our faith points to reward in heaven, but because we want to work out a way of living that allows us to be at peace with ourselves and each other.” (Right and Wrong: How to decide for yourself)

All human societies all around the world have some form of a religious or spiritual aspect; there must be a reason for this. There must be a reason why we try so desperately hard to reach beyond ourselves to find meaning. In all religions, despite their differences, one common rule can be found. It’s called The Golden rule, to sum it up, “To love others as you love yourself”. I think true meaning in life can be found when we realise that the “self” is a delusion and when we realise the importance of each other. Perhaps then we might find ourselves on the right track.

Finding the middle ground,

If I can’t find meaning in the consumerist life style of the secular world, and am turned off by the restrictive dogmatism of religious institutions. What else is there? Am I forced to wander the earth in a meaningless existence until I finally meet my eminent demise in which I am welcomed by nothingness? I don’t think so.

Maybe there is some middle ground between the constrictiveness of religion and the shallow quest of materialistic pursuits, where some sensibility and true meaning lie. Maybe we could encourage and hand down to our children the beauty of some of the religious teachings of self sacrifice, self respect and compassion along with the freedom, maturity and liberation that accompany secular values. Imagine a world in which we were able to explore spirituality and ultimate meaning free from narrow minds and closed doors, equipped with only our deepest questions and the desire to know the truth. Maybe we don’t have to “pick a side”? Maybe we can have the best both worlds?

Learning to be content,

I’m slowly starting to learn the art of contentment in my life. I like how Saint Paul puts it in his letter to the Philippians:

“...I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4: 11-12)

Contentment, as I understand it, is learning to differentiate between our desires and our needs. No matter what we do, we will always have superficial desires, more money, bigger house, nicer car. While I don’t think it’s necessarily bad to think these things, I do think things need to put in perspective first. These superficial desires will always be with us, we will always want more. The art of contentment is realising this, and coming to terms with the fact that happiness will not come with more things, but true happiness will come when we accept our position in life and focus on our needs such as family, friends, food and shelter. If you’re reading this and you’re ALIVE, then I’m guessing you have what you need in life, if your still unhappy than the problem doesn’t lie with not having enough money or material things, the problem is your perspective! We might not be able to control the circumstances around our life, but we can always control our perspectives.

Where I find meaning,

I suppose if I was to reflect on where I personally draw meaning, it would have to come from others. My family, my friends and the friendly strangers I meet along the way. It’s the people in my life that make it worth living, the people that I share this mysterious journey with and that I can relate with simply because they too are human. I find true joy and meaning in the simple things in life like laughing to the point of tears, listening to music that moves me in ways I’m still not really sure how, discovering new things, searching for answers to hard questions, and of course a glass of red wine (or two). But all of these things would be meaningless if I didn’t have people to share them with. I find value, meaning and comfort in the fact that no matter what happens in life, no matter what this is all about, and no matter what happens when it’s all over, I share the experiences and the journey with others just like me.

Much love

Jason

Quote: Dalai Lama

Today, more than ever before, life must be characterized by a sense of Universal responsibility, not only nation to nation and human to human, but also human to other forms of life.

Evaluating the power of prayer

Prayer is a crucial component to most religious faiths. It is considered by many a means in which humans can directly communicate to God. Some believers will even go as far as to say God will intervene and help us out if we are willing to readily dedicate our lives to the process know as prayer. For many prayer is a deeply personal affair between them and God, but one thing that can’t be denied is people from all around the world and from all different faiths confess to having their prayers answered in all sorts of wonderful and colourful ways. So, is prayer an actual means of making contact with God? Can we find truth by continually coming to God through prayer? Or are we wasting our time by deluding ourselves into thinking that anyone’s actually listening on the other end?

The unfalsifiable nature of prayer

One of the issues we must first address before we can either validate or falsify the power of prayer is the unfalsifiable nature of everyday prayer. To the believer who prayers every day, God most certainly, no doubt, without question answers their prayers. But what happens when God doesn’t? What is the answer a believer will give when he or she is faced with the inevitable circumstance of a specific unanswered prayer? It usually sounds something like this:

It wasn’t God’s will,
God works in mysterious ways,
He is testing my faith,
His ways are bigger than mine,
He sees the bigger picture.

But of course when a prayer is answered, all glory goes to God right? If we look at prayer through this lens we will never really, truly know if prayer works or it doesn’t, because through this system God can never lose. If the prayer comes to fruition, God wins because he answered it. But, if the prayer courses through time unanswered then it simply wasn’t God’s will or he works in mysterious ways, so he still wins. Now I’m not saying that God doesn’t answer prayers. I’m simply bringing to light the fact that if we are going to look at prayer objectively, if we are going to put prayer to the test and scrutiny of 21st century investigation we need to try to (at least for the moment) put aside our theological glasses and bravely and honestly look at prayer head on and ask ourselves the question, what’s really going here?

Prayer and healing

Naturally there have been many case studies on prayer to see if we can scientifically validate wether prayer actually has a positive outcome on people who are sick.
What I find amusing about these studies is you will find many that suit the outcome you want. Believers in the power of prayer will often site case studies that showed a positive outcome for those that have been prayed for:

http://www.proofgodexists.org/scientific_study_of_prayer_under.htm
http://www.1stholistic.com/Prayer/hol_prayer_proof.htm
http://www.summitlighthouse.org/prayers/Stories-And-Studies/Prayer-Works.html

Sceptics of the power of prayer will often provide case studies that show actually those that have been prayed for had no effect or sometimes had even gotten worse!

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/31/health/31pray.html
http://skeptico.blogs.com/skeptico/2005/07/prayer_still_us.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12082681/ns/health-heart_health

So what’s a well intentioned agnostic supposed to make of this? Does this just lead us to yet another cross road where we must just say people stretch the facts to suit their own agendas? Maybe, but if prayer had no effect on recipients than what would we expect to see?

Let’s take a coin toss analogy. Most believers and non believers will agree that no matter how many times you pray to God, he’s not going to break the laws of nature to win you a coin toss. So if we can all agree that flipping a coin is a completely random process, what happens when you toss a coin over a long period of time? Your heads to tails ratio roughly gets split down the middle. So what does it tell us that with so many case studies done on the effectiveness of prayer that they roughly equal themselves out? If I were to make a personal judgment I think this leans more towards the inefficiency of prayer, rather than the efficiency. Surely if prayer played a larger role in determining the well being of sick people we would see a much higher percentage in the increased health in those that were prayed for. But we simply don’t.

Now I don’t mean to offend anyone, I really don’t. For the record I have prayed for many sick people in the past that have gotten better, and if they were the only subjective experiences I had I would probably still hold to that belief. The only difference is now I look back, I probably tend to give most of the credit to the wonderful doctors and surgeons, rather than the invisible working hand of God. But then again he does work in mysterious and wonderful ways... right?

The dangers of prayer

Can faith in the power of prayer ever be dangerous? Unfortunately yes it can. When things like modern medicine and technology are substituted for complete faith in the power of prayer, this is when things turn ugly:

http://www.komonews.com/news/national/17057006.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-6162918-504083.html

Besides the obvious tragedy that a beautiful innocent child has died from a perfectly preventable disease, I think there is another underlying theme here that needs to be addressed. Aren’t these people, when you really think of it, the true believers! These people are willing to forsake all forms of worldly aid to rely on nothing but complete faith in the healing power of God and take him at his word:

James 5:14-15: "Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, it shall be forgiven him." (ASV)

Matt 21:22: "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." (ASV)

Mark 16:18 "they shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall in no wise hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." (ASV)

If God is pleased with faith than you would think such a God would reward a family for making such a strong demonstration of total faith. But unfortunately for whatever reasons this isn’t the case. I think most people know deep down if they had to make a choice between years of technological advances in modern medicine and surgery or a good old fashion prayer, who their going to choose.

In the case of the young girl who had a treatable form of diabetes, you would think when the parents are met with such a confronting realisation that their child now lies dead on the floor because their prayer hadn’t worked, they would at least begin to question their faith, but quite the contrary. It doesn’t seem to concern them in the slightest:

"Only our faith in God is giving us strength at this time."

I think this goes to show faith is deeply rooted in a persons self. To some of us not even the blatant loss of a child in the face an unanswered prayer can shake us off the foundation of faith.

The positives of prayer

Even if I personally fail to come to the terms that prayer works in the way so many believers confess that it does. I still can’t ignore the countless millions of people from all different faiths that testify to its power. Is it still possible that prayer can still “work” in a positive way for the believer despite my scepticism? Yes, I think it can. I think prayer, like some forms of meditation are great ways to get our focus off of us and to change our perspectives in a more positive fashion. The mind and the body are interdependently connected in ways we still don’t really understand. One cannot function without the other and the well being of one also depends on the other. For example, we all know how stress (a negative mental state) can actually have a direct negative effect on our physical state. People can actually think themselves ill! If this is so, than is it at least plausible that changing our perspective and thoughts to a more positive frame of mind can have a similar positive effect to our physical health? Is it possible prayer works in this manner? If this is so than perhaps regular prayer and meditation (regardless of theological interpretations) is good for us!

For the record I actually think Jesus had it right when he said “your faith has made you well”. I believe the power of prayer has more to do with the hope and faith that we ourselves invest in it. This might explain why so many people, from so many different faith backgrounds can all claim that it is their faith traditions that answers prayers, heals and gives authentic spiritual experience. The human mind is very complex, powerful and not yet fully understood. We do well to wait to see what neuroscience reveals in the coming years.

The only way to truly test prayer

As wonderful as science and data collecting is, I think there really is only one way to really know if prayer actually works,

Try it! I know in the secular world of agnostics and atheists it’s almost Taboo to pray. I do not consider this so. If the bible, or even the Quran, says that the only way to know God and truth is through prayer than what have you got to lose? To be sceptical of prayer is not the same as being a cynic of prayer. Why not take these holy books at their word and test them out? But if I were to give some advice, to really know if this whole prayer thing works, I would ask God for something specific. Many people ask God for a “sign”. Well to me that’s a little too open, this could be interpreted as anything. The very next day you might stumble across a $100 note. Alas! There really must be a God.

If you’re going to pray and ask God to reveal truth then why not ask something deeply personal, that only God (if he [or she] exists) would know. If anything happens let me know! Or maybe God has already answered your prayers, in that case let me know about that experience. I’ve been trying for a number of years now without any luck, but I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t but a small speck of optimism left that maybe, just maybe, I might get an answer back.

Love you all

Jason

Does God make sense?

Great series that spans multiple views from an unbiased persective. I share this mans views and struggles.

http://www.closertotruth.com/video-profile/Does-God-Make-Sense-Full-Episode-/918

Check out any of his videos and interviews on www.closertotruth.com

Debate:The resurrection of Jesus

Debate between Prof. Gary Habermas and Dr. Arif Ahmed on the Resurrection of Jesus

T-shirt

I recently found/bought a T-Shirt that so perfectly sums up my world beliefs its scary!:

To Live is to move, to explore is to exist.

SEEKERS OF

THE TRUTH

Destined to forever roam in search of answers. Living for the moment. Uncertainty is their home, adventure their drug, with empty pockets & open minds they venture on.

The road is Life.

Debate: Christanity or Athiesm

Frank Turek Vs Christopher Hitchens on what world view better explains reality.

Religious Intolerance: Sam Harris

Some challenging thoughts from Sam Harris

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=28523494

Jesus camp / hell house

Here are two of the most unbiased documentaries ive seen on two separate evangelical Christian movements moving across America. These documentaries are wonderful in that they don’t push you in any particular direction. They only give us, the audience, a glimpse into the lives of these people and a platform to form our own agreements and objections to their stories.

I think these videos present us with a great opportunity to discuss perhaps some of the likes, dislikes, concerns or agreements we may have with certain aspects to the evangelical Christian movement. There is much to be discussed here and so I will start things off with my own personal thoughts of the films. Please feel free to add your own thoughts or disagreements with any aspects of the films or my thoughts.

*Be sure to watch the films before you read my thoughts.

JESUS CAMP (part 1)

Jesus Camp Part 2 (the rest of the parts are on youtube.)

HELL HOUSE (part 1)

Hell house Part 2 (the rest of the parts are on youtube.)



My thoughts on the films

Jesus Camp

I first watched this film as a Christian quite some time ago. Even in my Christian mindset I was absolutely disgusted at what I witnessed. First and foremost I think there needs to be a clear distinction between this type of Christianity and the Christianity I was subjected too. While similarities are there they are definitely two different world views. Becky Fisher and company make up a small (unfortunately not small enough) fraction of the evangelical Christian movement. Many of my Christian friends would absolutely object to this kind of child abuse. But in fairness, I think it’s a lot easier for the non Christian to find the indoctrination of children in this manner morally concerning. After all, if there really is a hell, then wouldn’t it be ok to condition kids at such an early age in the ways of a “true” Christian?

To me this film displayed actions and behaviour that were nothing short of child abuse. I feel for these children, as do many Christians. In my opinion children should always be given the freedom to make their own minds up and never have beliefs pushed upon them. But If were being realistic, parents are always going to instil their own morals and values onto their children, so naturally a Christian or a Muslim is going to pass on what they believe to their children. I don’t feel I have a right to tell parents how to raise their own children. But I do have a right to raise my own concerns for children in general. I am a participating member of this society and I object whole heartedly to the idea that a child from an early age should be subjected to the kind of brain washing, fear driving, religious indoctrinating bullshit that we witnessed in this video. Children are our future.

Hell house

I really enjoyed this documentary. There were some people in this video that scared me, and no, they weren’t any of the people dressed in demon outfits. It was mainly the church pastor with the moustache. There were also people that I absolutely loved. Such as the single dad raising all his kids, my heart broke watching his littlest one have a seizure. Again a lot of my objections are on the same page as Jesus Camp and again, my personal experience with Christianity was nothing like what you see in the film, and the two should not be confused. But there are similarities that need to be addressed. This films focus is a lot more on the fear driving aspect of Christianity rather than the indoctrination of little ones.

My main issue with this film (to state the obvious) is the fear! Why so much fear? Is it really so necessary? Surely at this point in history we can look back and see some of the biggest mistakes made in the past have been caused by unwarranted fear. Governments use it, disastrous political regimes have used it and many religions use it. Fear can drive a person to do almost anything and is a great way to keep large groups of people in line. However If we want to keep our minds straight and think clearly, we need to rid ourselves of unnecessary fear. If you fear the afterlife it’s obviously going to radically cloud your judgment. You’re going to cling to the first thing that comes along and promises you some sort of comfort.

The truth is no one knows what happens after we die, and Christianity isn’t the only religion claiming eternal torment for those that don’t follow. We can’t live our lives in fear of what might or might not be in the afterlife. We can however learn to make good moral choices without fear and intimidation. I love my dad, he doesn’t have to threaten me with punishment for me to listen to him, and neither does God. Although to be fair to God, he (or she) is never the one doing the intimidating, Gods not the one writing the books, building the hell houses and spreading the fear, it’s the people conveniently passing on the message for him. Bless people :)

My other major objection was the final scene of the film when some of the church members began describing their view of the world and how it’s all about to come to an end. Here is one young lady’s response:

“I truly believe the end times are right upon us and there happening right now... the world is the worst that it have ever been, its and ugly evil world, and that’s a scary thing, but at the same time it’s a good thing because that means that Jesus is close to coming and is about to come back for his bride.”

Any belief system, religious or otherwise, that builds in you such a pessimistic view about the world as the one above, is not one that is going to further the progression of a civil, free society. The day we stop thinking or caring about the world and its future is day we find ourselves in big trouble.

These are just some of my thoughts and concerns. Please help me out and share with me your thoughts, wether you agree or disagree.

Much love

Jason