I look down and the paper beside me on the couch reads, “What is the purpose of life”. Ironic thing to see right now as I just learned 30 minutes ago that my brother-in-law’s mother has passed away. I am planning this week’s message for the high school ministry. “What is the purpose of life?” I stand on a solid Christian foundation. I know all the proper answers to that question, however, right now, it somehow seems rather ambiguous.
What is the purpose of life? We are meant to enjoy it. To relish it. To cherish it. To do something with it. But what. Right now, I need a simple answer for that question.
Diane went to be with her Father in the quiet of her own home surrounded by her family, whom she loved with all her heart, while her husband and partner in this life lie in his own hospital bed approaching his own meeting with his Creator. What is the purpose of life?
As a Theology major, I have spent the last couple of years in fairly intensive study with that question and in all that time I have never seen it in the light that I am in this moment.
Did she feel like she did enough? Saw enough? Helped enough? Lived enough? Loved enough? Is she going to journey to what her Heavenly Father has for her next confident that she did? Will she have regrets? Can such a thing as regret even exist on that journey?
Will God have to tell her “What is the purpose of life” or will she just automatically know when she reaches her destination? Should I even call it a destination?
One might hear my thoughts and grow concerned that I am playing on the fringes of a crisis of faith, but right now is quite the contrary. As a matter of fact, it has been a while since I have been so in awe of it. Encouraged by it. My faith tells me to live loudly and to love boldly and these are not the characteristics of regret. No, it is not a crisis of faith that I am having here, but rather, I think, a crisis of self. What is the purpose of life? When I embark on my own journey, will God have to tell me the answer to that question, or will I automatically know?
See I think that if you meet your Creator knowing that you did enough, saw enough, helped enough, lived enough and loved enough, He will not need to answer that question. You will just automatically know.
Thank you Father for blessing our lives with the beauty that was Diane Kammes. We know that you didn’t need to answer that question for her, Father but that she already knew. She is your precious company now Lord God until we all meet her home.
Amen
