if there is a god what then becomes the meaning of life? ----------- cmte, A good question many have pondered! Logically the answer will come from the creator of life. René Dubos states: “Scientific technology is presently taking modern civilization on a course that will be suicidal if it is not reversed in time. . . . [The affluent nations] act as if the immediate satisfaction of all their whims and urges were the only criteria of behavior . . . At stake, therefore, is not only the rape of nature but the very future of mankind. . . . I doubt that mankind can tolerate our absurd way of life much longer without losing what is best in humanness. Western man will either choose a new society or a new society will abolish him.” Erich Fromm agrees but feels that “the new society and new Man is possible only if the old motivations of profit, power, and intellect are replaced by new ones: being, sharing, understanding.” He referred to reports commissioned by the Club of Rome stating that only by drastic economic and technological changes could mankind “avoid major and ultimately global catastrophe.” Fromm said that these changes could come only if first “a fundamental change occurs in contemporary Man’s character structure. . . . For the first time in history the physical survival of the human race depends on a radical change of the human heart.” Albert Schweitzer agreed that the problems “are in the last resort only to be solved by an inner change of character.” ‘A fundamental change in man’s character? A change of heart?’ Yes! And the Bible pointed that out 19 centuries ago. “Quit being fashioned after this system of things,” it said, “but be transformed by making your mind over.” Again, “Strip off the old personality with its practices, and clothe yourselves with the new personality, which through accurate knowledge is being made new according to the image of the One who created it.”—Romans 12:2; Colossians 3:9, 10. “According to the image of the One who created it?” Yes! The image of Jehovah God, in whose likeness man was created! (Genesis 1:27, 28) That is the image that man should try to project. That is the way he was made. That is what determines his spiritual needs. And meeting those needs is what it takes to make man happy! Jehovah is a God of purpose, and he works to accomplish his purpose. Man in his image also needs to do work that has a meaningful purpose. That presents a problem. “Under modern industrial conditions,” psychiatrist Smiley Blanton says, “more and more people find that they . . . are but tiny cogs, as a rule, in a huge machine directed by remote corporate management. Work has become specialized and fragmented to the point where it carries little intrinsic significance, and the worker himself is turned into an anonymous treadle for someone else to step upon.” Under this system most work produces stress and lacks meaning. Yet we have a desperate need for life to have meaning. Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl wrote: “The striving to find a meaning in one’s life is the primary motivational force in man. . . . There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that would so effectively help one to survive even the worst conditions, as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.” But how can we feel that our life is meaningful? In the vastness of the universe our earth is a speck. Each of us is only one of over four billion on this speck. Each is little more than an amoeba. How can we be of any consequence? Even the Bible says that man is like the grass that withers, the flower that fades, the shadow that passes, the mist that appears but soon disappears. (Psalm 103:15, 16; 144:4; James 4:14) Unless . . . unless we can connect up with the great powerful One that created the universe. Unless that powerful One who also created us has a purpose in mind for us. Only then can our life be really meaningful and last longer than the grass, the flower, the shadow, the mist. And that is exactly the case. Man was created by God, given a work of caring for the earth and its plants and animals. A very meaningful work—which mankind has failed miserably to perform. Not only failing to do it but actually ruining the earth instead. (Genesis 1:28; 2:15; Revelation 11:18) In so doing he has robbed his life of the only lasting meaning available to it. People have a need for God, an inner urge that pressures them “to seek God, if they might grope for him and really find him, although, in fact, he is not far off from each one of us.” (Acts 17:27) This Grand Creator is reflected in the heavens and in the earth around us. His invisible qualities—power, wisdom, Godship—are to be seen in the things he has made. Inexcusably, irrationally, many teach that the earth and life on it just evolved by blind chance. In so doing they deny the guiding principles and values man so much needs. They blindly lead their blind followers away from their only chance for a deep, contented happiness.—Romans 1:20; Matthew 15:14. Nevertheless, all mankind, even the sophisticated intellectuals, grope for a god, and many times they find any god but the true Almighty One. Many psychiatrists recognize man’s inborn need to worship a higher power. Rollo May said that through belief in God “the individual will have gained a feeling of his own minuteness and insignificance in the face of the greatness of the universe and God’s purposes therein. . . . He will recognize that there are purposes which swing in arcs much greater than his little orb, and he will aim to put himself in harmony with them.” C. G. Jung said: “The individual who is not anchored in God can offer no resistance on his own resources to the physical and moral blandishments of the world. . . . Religion . . . is an instinctive attitude peculiar to man, and its manifestations can be followed all through human history. . . . [The] idea of an all-powerful divine being is present everywhere, if not consciously recognized, then unconsciously accepted . . . Therefore I consider it wiser to recognize the idea of God consciously; otherwise something else becomes god, as a rule something quite inappropriate and stupid.” All human history proclaims beyond any doubt that man has an inborn urge to worship. From the most primitive tribes to the most cultured societies, man has set up gods—many times stupidly. Stones, trees, a mountain, animals, human leaders, money, their belly, even Satan the Devil (which is what Satan wanted Jesus to do). The unscientific philosophy of evolution has become a modern-day religion for millions—a religion based solely on “the god of Good Luck.” Also, many who claim to worship the true God give only lip service and only put on ‘a form of godliness.’ (Isaiah 65:11; 2 Timothy 3:5; Philippians 3:19; Colossians 3:5; Matthew 4:9; 7:21) Until there is a proper fulfillment of this need by worshiping the only true God, Jehovah, along with all the other needs, there will be no deep-rooted contentment or lasting happiness for man. This is a crucial part of what it takes to make us happy. Jehovah is a God of love. His Son Jesus gave his life because of his love for us. The two greatest commandments are to love God and love our neighbor. Love covers a multitude of sins. Love gives discipline that trains us for righteousness. Love is a perfect bond of union among us. Love is the hallmark of Jesus’ disciples. It is this kind of love, this benevolent agape love, that never fails.—1 John 4:8; John 15:13; Matthew 22:36-40; 1 Peter 4:8; Hebrews 12:6, 11; Colossians 3:14; John 13:35. It is the godly love that the apostle Paul so beautifully describes at 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: “Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not look for its own interests, does not become provoked. It does not keep account of the injury. It does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.” It is this godly quality of love that we must reflect. It is a spiritual need that must be filled if we are to be happy. “The principle underlying capitalistic society and the principle of love are incompatible,” Fromm said, and he added: “Love is the only sane and satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence . . . , the ultimate and real need in every human being.” It is a vital need, according to Smiley Blanton: “Without love, we lose the will to live. . . . A certain amount of self-love is a normal characteristic of every healthy person. To have a proper regard for oneself is indispensable for all work and achievement. If we are too harsh and self-critical of our conduct, our sense of guilt may weaken the will to live and, in extreme cases, bring on actual self-destruction.” Long before this, Jesus indicated love for self as well as love for others when he said: “You must love your neighbor as yourself.” Love, like a muscle, is strengthened by use. On the other hand, love, like faith, is dead without works. Sow love to reap it. Love is giving. “Practice giving, and people will give to you.” However, the one who loves and gives does not do so to receive something back. Giving is its own reward. As Jesus said, “There is more happiness in giving than there is in receiving.” You give, you get, but you do not give to get.—Matthew 22:39; Luke 6:38; Acts 20:35; James 2:26. Akin to giving is sharing, not material things, but ideas, experiences, joys, yearnings, innermost feelings, even sorrows. One psychiatrist said: “One of the deepest forms of human happiness: shared enjoyment.” Have you ever been alone as you gazed in amazement at a spectacular sunset and wished that a loved one were there to share it with you? Or have you had exciting good news but no one to tell it to? Or stared in awe at a stormy ocean with mighty waves crashing onto a rocky coast and shooting high up into the air, and ached because no companion was with you to share in the thrilling sight? Or even a scene of poignant sadness that moved you deeply, but you’ll never be able to convey it fully to another? We yearn to communicate feelings, as the apostle Paul said: “Rejoice with people who rejoice; weep with people who weep.”—Romans 12:15. That sounds simple. It is also true. Psychiatrist James Fisher said: “Great thinkers . . . have warned of the perils of pursuing earthly treasures, and have earnestly recommended the simple life.” Genuine pleasures are found in the simple things and the magnificent things God has made: the black velvet dome from which myriads of stars twinkle and shine, the warmth of the sun, the coolness of breezes. The fragrance of flowers, the song of birds, the grace of animals. The rolling hills and the towering crags. The rushing rivers and lazy streams, lush meadows and dense forests, the glisten of snow in the sun. The patter of rain on the roof, the chirping of a cricket in the cellar, the croak of a frog in the pond, and the splash of a fish that sends ripples circling out under the moonlight. Even more pleasure is found in companionable people, for man was made a social creature, with a need to belong. A kind thought, a sympathetic touch, a soft gesture, a warm smile, a loving act, the laughter of a child at play, the gurglings of a baby in its crib, the dignity and wisdom of an old person rich in life’s experiences—these are things that satisfy. It is what we are that counts, not what we appear to be. It is the love we have, not the social position we gain. It is what we can give, not what we can get. It is the treasure in heaven we have, not the hoard of gold on earth. It is contentment with little rather than anxiety with much that matters. The rich young ruler had things, the Pharisees appeared holy, but the rich young ruler was not happy and the Pharisees were not holy. Having God’s thoughts to make us wise, using this wisdom to channel our power, following his principles to ensure justice, copying him in the showing of love—all of this is needed to fill the hungers he created within us.
