“LIFE IS WORTH LIVING!” This was the title of the groundbreaking television show from the early 1950s through the late1960s by Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. In it, he argued for the joys of engaging fully in a Christian life.
“EXISTENCE IS SUFFERING!” So argued Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha. This summarization of one of the world’s great religions argues that since every aspect of the wider world brings pain, one should discipline oneself to separate oneself from the reality of our senses and embrace self-annihilation.
One of the chief tensions within most faiths is whether this creation we share is wholesome or poisonous. Should a well-meaning man intensely engage with human society and the existent world, or should he instead withdraw?
Millenarianism is the monotheistic belief that the current world is irredeemably depraved. It must be cleansed by fire in a world-shattering Judgment Day. Only then can the world experience a heavenly “thousand years of peace”. Jews, Christians, and Moslems each have Millenarian factions.
The Amish are one of the more famous groups of Millenarian Christians. Derived from Dutch Anabaptism, adherents of this denomination strive to live separately from the wider world. Eschewing the technology and society of outsiders, the Amish try to live simple lives in relation to God. They await God’s breaking into history to establish the new Millennium of Peace.
Believers of many faiths practice an aesthetic disassociation from the mainstream ebb and flow of human events. They prune their lives of connections with what they deem to be a fallen world. Their lives are exercises in devotion; resisting the siren song of this veil of tears.
Certainly, our contemporary human societies are in crisis. In the West, our best and brightest have abandoned Judeo-Christian traditions. Instead, they embrace the purposeful redefinition of our culture to conform to notions of gender fluidity, woke utopianism, and socialistic central control. Today’s American is faced by a budding fanaticism keen to purge the rest of us from their utopia.
Today, totalitarians from Davos, Switzerland to Beijing, China work for the re-imposition of Serfdom on the bulk of humanity. Environmental, gender, and racial panic is being stoked to stampede humanity into a new world order. Smart devices are being placed in control of dissenting people.
Inarguably, much of our world today is becoming a dystopia that no wise person would want to experience. The culture of death seems irresistible.
But, there is also life! The beauty in nature, the innocence of children, the ardor of young lovers, the willing sacrifices of parents, the joy of old friendships, the peace of home, and the wise counsel of the elderly are all reasons to love life. Puppies become dogs and personify the virtue of loyalty. Infants grow to independent adulthood and take their place as productive members of society. There remains art to be crafted, books to be written, frontiers to be explored, inventions to be discovered.
These “little things” are not insignificant. They make life sweet!
Despite the desires of humorless zealots everywhere, dogma is not reality. What is real is home, family, vocation, friends, hobbies, and all the other parts of our lives that inspire hope, joy, purpose, and love.
Existence may indeed involve suffering, but that pain comes from our love for others. Love is worth the pain of separation and joy is worth the disappointments that often accompany it.
To those who see this world as a trap for the soul, precisely how does evading life prepare the soul for a fulsome afterlife? It must be possible to be faithful to the divinity while glorifying Him by engaging with His creation. Indeed, as it is our free will that often taints the world with darkness, it can just as surely bring light if we so choose.
Our existence is rich with wonder. The miraculous interweaving of plants and animals in nature defies logic and mere functionality. Nature is both terrible and beautiful.
While much in our human nature is tainted, we have the glorious opportunity to rise above our base nature and become doers of good. Making a stand against evil is part of a well-lived life.
But, there is more to doing right than opposing wrong. Wisdom and common sense call us to love good more than we hate evil!
J. R. R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” deals thoughtfully with a world threatened by seemingly unstoppable Dark Lords. Tolkien’s characters find reasons to hope when all logic leads to despair. The members of the Fellowship striving to take heart in the many little ways that the true Lord of Life works to undermine the best laid plans of the Enemy.
In addition to Scripture, there is no better source than Tolkien’s great novel for a person to discover how, when existence is suffering, life is still very much worth living!
