Why are we here?

Hello everyone,

It’s that time again – that time when I give you all the benefit of my old age. How are things with you? I hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Things are really great with me right now – a new relationship with an amazing woman, trying out new things and pursuing a personal dream have left me in a pretty good place.

Today’s post is a bit controversial, I think. It’s about why we are here on earth – the purpose of our existence. It’s something I’ve always thought about and I’m going to talk about it from a biblical point of view. I’m talking about it now because of some things I’ve heard in church over the past two weeks. The general theme here is temptation. Let’s dive in.

I’ll start with Adam and Eve. In the garden, they were covered in God’s glory and therefore did not realize that they were naked. It wasn’t until they ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil that they realized that they were naked. One thing I’ve always thought about is: Why did God put that tree there? Why did he not hide it? If God wanted man to be like Him, why did He let the tempter into the garden? By extension, if God knows everything, and He knows what we are going to do, then He knows who is going to heaven and who’s going to hell. As a result, life itself becomes an exercise in futility. I don’t believe that. I believe that at every point in life, God knows all the possible consequences of our actions – it’s like a humongous decision tree with infinite possibilities. However, at every decision node, God doesn’t know what we are going to do – that’s why He gave us free will. That’s why He gave us the Holy Spirit to help guide us. Ultimately, we are the authors of our own destinies. In my opinion, the temptations He lets us go through are designed to see if we are worthy of His glory. Adam and Eve were tested too; they were found unworthy and God’s glory left them. God knows that I’ve been found unworthy on very many occasions but I’ve come to realize that temptation is not a bad thing – Job was tested and found to be worthy. So was Jesus. Let’s stop seeing temptation as a bad thing. When the devil tempts us, He is indirectly doing God’s work and that’s always a good thing.

I realize that this is a bit out of left field but this is the only rational explanation that I can come up with. Some people will see this and say “how dare you say that God doesn’t know something? You can’t understand God…” and so on. I realize this too. In fact, someone once asked me what this knowledge would do for me. The answer is that I just want to understand. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I want a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. This is because I am at a period in my life where I’ll be making decisions that have far reaching implications. I need God now more than ever. But I also want to understand what the whole point of life is just for my own satisfaction. I will never have a definitive answer and I know it but I have a theory that makes sense to me and I’m ok with that. I believe that God gave us brains for a reason but this type of thinking shouldn’t distract us from what’s truly important – to love God and love your neighbor. It’s as simple as that.

On an unrelated note, Arsenal’s season has crumbled (predictably) the way my favorite biscuits crumble in my mouth (they are digestives by the way). This past weekend, we were on the brink of being knocked out of the FA Cup. If that had happened, I believe Wenger would have resigned. I find myself increasingly thinking that he has to go. I’m a huge fan of his but the time has come for him to leave. Things have to change. This can’t keep happening to us. I hope we win the FA Cup but as long as he’s there, I don’t think we’ll win the league or the champions’ league.

I watched “Captain America – The Winter Soldier” about a week and a half ago. It’s a good film but that’s all it is for me. I liked the twist though. I finally watched “Her” a week ago. For those that don’t know, “Her” is a movie about a guy that falls in love with his operating system. I thought it was beautiful. Joaquin Phoenix was amazing as was Scarlett Johansson (I thought she was more impressive given the role that she played). It is a truly great film that has so many messages - so many bits that you can take away. I think that’s what truly great movies do.

That’s all for now. Till next time, I remain your fantastic Mr. Fox.