Meaningless?

"Hear the chimes. Did you know that the wind, when it blows, is older than Rome and our joy and our sorrow?" Conor Oberst

I've been thinking about the "point" of things lately. I realize that a pretty huge concept, and I wont' really attempt to get to the very, very bottom of it in one blog post. But it's something that's come up several times in my learning and reading and thinking lately, so I'll do what I can in a short space, I suppose.

So, back to "Wuthering Heights" we go...

This is how Bronte ends her story: "I lingered round (the graves), under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any could ever imagine unquiet slumber for the sleepers in that quiet earth."

If you've read "Wuthering Heights", you'll know that the lives of all the characters are near constantly filled with turmoil. But when Mr. Lockwood observes the graves of some of the most volatile characters, he can't imagine anything but peace. It's as if their lives, their real lives of suffering and cruelty, never existed. This is especially true when you consider that the final remaining members of both families have found happiness. All of Heathcliff's scheming and torture appears to have been for nothing when you see the happiness that Cathy and Hareton have found in each other.

And that's the truth of it: when we die, that's it. We may have some sort of earthly legacy left behind, but, in the case of most ordinary people, over time even that will fade. Good or bad, when we're done, we're done.

So what's the point in trying to accumulate as much stuff as we can while we're here? Why should I worry about money when I really am provided for? Having stuff is fine. But being unsatisfied with the stuff we do have is where the problems arise. If we looked at things from the perspective of knowing we can't take any of it with us when we die, I think it would change the way we think about what we really need. Having a boat is great, if you have the boat so you can enjoy what it gives you, not so that you can use it as a symbol of your achievement. Enjoying what this world has to offer is a part of learning about and enjoying God. He made the world and said it was good. It's our attitude that corrupts things.

I know there is a point to life. There is meaning, despite the fact that it doesn't last forever. God put me here for a purpose. He put me here to learn and do things that I could only learn and do in my own unique circumstance. They may not be eternally significant things in the eyes of the world, but they are significant in the greater scope of my eternal existence.

I want to read books so I can learn and challenge myself and simply enjoy a good story. I want to travel so I can see the diversity of this amazing world. I want to have relationships with people so I can fully experience this life I've been given. I want to cheer for football teams, cry when I'm hurting, be angry at injustice, laugh at inside jokes, and find comfort in a cup of chai. And I want to do it all with this perspective:

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience." Peirre Teilhard de Chardin

So remember that human experience is fleeting. All things shall pass, and most will be little remembered. But also know that human experience is not insignificant, or God would not have designed things as they are.