Two Unique Points of View

A good friend sent me an email today of an interview that had some insightful things to say about the purpose of life. When I read it, I thought about Barry's answer to the question "What is the meaning of life?"

First, here's what Barry had to say:

"So you want to know the meaning of life, you’ve come to the right place. I know the meaning of life. And here it is: the meaning of life is to have fun. Hope that’s not a let down, but that’s what it is, it’s to have fun and to learn that we create it all, we create everything, no asterisk, no parenthesis and no fine print. Overall I think it’s to realize that we are good enough, that our essence is beautiful even though our actions sometimes aren’t. I think by our actions we prove that we are human beings, and by our essence we prove that we are spiritual beings. I think that overall we are here to learn how to love and how to receive love and that’s difficult. That’s difficult for a human being. It’s not difficult for the spiritual being in us but the human being part resists that all the time. That’s what I think the meaning of life is. We all have to keep working on that. So here’s my advice. Let someone pick up the check and just say thank you when they do."

Here's what Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose Driven Life", had to say:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body but not the end of me.I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort.God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know = You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That''s why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

If you read both you will see some similarities and some differences. The key similaritues are that they both believe we are spiritual beings and that we are here to grow in character.

Now that's some food for thought,
Texas Fan