I got busy in other pursuits yesterday and did not make time for my daily The Purpose Driven Life post, so I’m a day behind.
Day 4 of The Purpose Driven Life is another chapter whose subject is a matter of personal belief and is not experientially knowable – the idea that we are made for eternity, that our lives do not end at death. This chapter is also heavy on religious dogma – we get only this one life, this life is merely a dry run for our eternal life, and if we get it wrong we’re going to hell for eternity.
There were things about this chapter I liked and agreed with and things I didn’t. But, mostly, I found the notion of eternity irrelevant to the question of “what on earth am I here for?” posed on the book’s cover. Far too often, the notion of eternity is used to instill fear in people – eternity’s a long time, so you better not screw it up. There’s an element of fearmongering in Warren’ words, as well. But, Jesus also said “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Jesus was not a fearmonger.
Jesus’ words are echoed by Ram Dass’ “Be here now,” by Eckhart Tolle’s assertion that nothing ever happens outside the present moment, by the saying “yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift – that’s why it’s called the present,” and by many other spiritual teachers and words of wisdom I cannot recall or have not yet come to know. Whether my life is eternal or whether it is snuffed out of existence tomorrow is irrelevant to this moment. What matters in this moment is that my life is aligned with my deepest, most cherished values and desires. An eternity spent living a life like that would be heaven indeed.
TL;DR: No tl;dr for virtual book club posts.
