Letters to the Editor
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The Journey Begins
Faith is very personal. There are a lot of different belief systems out there. I Personally I don't believe that there is one true faith but agree that each one " is a river that runs into the same ocean".
Don't question your need for meaning and an understanding of the bigger picture. Though not everyone feels the need it is inherently human to ask these questions and to want to understand...more. May I suggest that you actively seek answers and be open to the possibilities? Continue the journey in earnest and the answers will come. Read, take a trip to a natural place that leaves you awestuck, be part of the solution in whatever ways that you can, really listen to the peple that choose to share something with you in a caring way.
As a final note don't let those that are "convinced" of anything one way or the other to the point of bullying put you off or intimidate you. This is your life, your existence. Be true to yourself and trust in yourself and your own heart. If there is a god then I expect that is what he/she really wants for you anyway.
Welcome to the path.
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Mad about god(s)
To believe whatever makes you happy, even if that belief is unsupported by evidence and is in fact irrational and contrary to known fact, has a name: madness.
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advice from a fellow atheist
As Cary said, this is THE question of our existence and its not surprising that you are fretting over it. Your concern about the purpose of life just means you have a brain in your head. The meaning of life is the “hot topic” of the ages and there is no shame in not having it all figured out, or in reconsidering your answer once and a while.
My answer to is question that there is no one purpose to life. Life just is. We exist and then we die. So, what we do with our lives is up to us. We can spend our lives finding a cure for cancer, sitting on the couch watching reruns of Seinfeld, or being a serial killer. No matter what we do, there is no "higher power" that will hold us to account for our actions.
So, what’s the point of it all? I’ve decided that I will try to live my own life according to the purposes I choose. For me, one purpose of life is to leave this place better than I found it, to reach out to others and society and to help. The world could be a much better place if everyone wasn’t worried more about the afterlife than what’s happening right now. If there is no God, then all we have is each other.
Another purpose is to enjoy my life while it lasts. This is not a dress rehearsal. We don’t get a second chance at life. The world is a wondrous place, filled with interesting people. Get out and enjoy it while you can. Put down that copy of “The Stranger.” Life is too short and it could be over sooner than you like.
Other people have found other purposes to life. One popular reason is to raise happy children into adults. Others are to make scientific, technological, intellectual, and/or artistic achievements.
What will your purpose in life be? You’ve already decided that there is no externally-motivated purpose to life. So, now it’s up to you to decide on your own purpose.
P.S. Don’t fall for the B.S. that says that religion is the philosophical root of morality. The opposite of religion is not hedonism. Also, don’t let the religious tell you that the confusion or angst you are feeling is a sign that you really do believe in God. They feel the confusion too, even if they wont admit it.
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Music
One thing that might help the LW deal with his existential crisis is music. I was just listening to "Son Of a Preacher Man" by Dusty Springfield, and you can't tell this atheist she isn't as present in that timeless and beautiful song every time it's heard as the day she first recorded it. It takes me outside myself whether I'm having a good day or a bad day. Other songs that have similar effects-though not quite as powerful-are "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green, "Hook" by Blues Traveler, "She's Gone" by Hall and Oates, "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, "Lonesome Town" by Ricky Nelson, and "The Sea" by Morcheeba. All these songs have the ability to transport the listener to a better, though sometimes sadder, place. Funny how music, more so than any other medium, can combine happiness and sadness, as well as mortality and eternal youth, together and people keep coming back for more of it.
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Connect with Life first
Dear LW,
Take up gardening! Alan Titmarsh, a BBC gardening presenter, once told of his "pappie" telling him that what a garden needs most is "a good looking at." So start with learning to look at gardens. Spend time in them; compare and contrast them. Smell the flowers.
When you develop your own special sense of enjoyment from a garden do something special with whatever space is yours to use, large or small, indoors or out. If outdoors, don't be too tidy and leave stacks of branches here and there for birds, bumblebees and ladybirds to do their thing in. Don't try to poison away the snails and slugs -- there are thousands per square meter.
Create your own living beauty and your own renewable source of enjoyment. Soak up some of our excess CO2 and turn it into something others can enjoy at your discretion. See if you don't catch yourself talking to it/them.
Most religious stories seem to start with a garden, so why not go looking for yourself. If you get as far as I have suggested the answers you now seek might not seem so important, after all.
I recall and am once again touched by the card that I received from the widow of a former colleague some few weeks after the memorial service. She, he and their extended family were all atheists. He had chosen euthanasia, which is permitted in their country, rather than deteriorate further in front of his two young children. Tough ceremony. In the card she thanked me for my parting wish to her, "Enjoy life."
Connect with life in whatever positive ways you know, and something will connect with you. Call it what you will.