Purpose

Ever wonder why you are alive? The purpose of your time on this planet?

Of course you have. Everyone does at one time or another. Most of us ask this question many times each year let alone during our lifetime! It is one of the imponderables. It is the core of philosophical search and discovery.

Life is not arranged for convenience. We deal with daily routines and details. Thousands of them, so many that we lose sight of the more basic principles and facts of life. So we are diverted from the big questions until we have a reason to think upon them. Or are forced to face them in crisis or deep personal sorrow or fear.

We respond to the big challenges as they are dealt. But we do not know how we will handle them in advance. That is part of our character. Fearful or brave; bold or withdrawn.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt said,

            “Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or

  softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have

  to be cruel to be tough.”

Not all nations have lived up to this principle. We hope that ours has. Of course that is in the eye of the beholder – friend or foe, ally or enemy. Kindness helps both allies and enemies, though; the latter to heal the wounds once the war is over.

This quote from www.daveswordsofwisdom.com caught my attention the other day:

            “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others, and if you can’t help them,

             Don’t hurt them.”

Do the most good and the least damage. Not a bad way of guiding one’s self through life. There are rewards for this standard, but not always apparent. The best rewards are the ones unexpected ~ when someone does you a good turn when you least expect it but sorely need it! Pay back for when you did the same for someone else? Paid forward when you gave it some thought. Mostly, though, the doing of good for others just feels very, very good.

Gene Roddenberry shared this thought with the world:

            “The strength of a civilization is not measured by its ability to fight wars, but

  rather by its ability to prevent them.”

Do you remember Roddenberry? You should. He was multi-dimensional and very much an American. He was born in 1921 and died in 1991. He served as an Army Air Corp fighter pilot during World War II and flew 89 combat missions. He returned to civilian life as an LA policeman. Later he wrote television scripts, some of the old standards. In 1964 Gene Roddenberry created Star Trek. That program premiered in 1966 and ran for three seasons. He produced, consulted and wrote for the Star Trek films that have followed ever since. He was a futurist, a philosopher, a down to earth man. All of those things.

His life’s purpose has been with us in a large way. He demonstrated it well through many phases of his life. And he came up with the above quote about not fighting wars but avoiding them. Peace not destruction.

As we think back on our history as a people, we tend to focus on our accomplishments. We also tend to push aside our problems for another time. It would help, I think if we were realistic about our accomplishments. We need to remember the weaknesses as well as the strengths. They modify each other. They help us realize we are capable of much but have much yet to do. Our job is not done.

Here are a few reminders taken from the Internet without any citation of authorship:

“There is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we’re the greatest country in the world.

We’re seventh in literacy, 27^th in math, 22^nd in science, 49^th in life expectancy. 178^th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports.

We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita; number of adults who believe angels are real; and defense spending where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined.

So when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don’t know what the f—k you’re talking about.”

Abilities yes. Resolve no. Accomplishments are in the past; what is in our future? We need to keep asking that question or there will be no future. Just look at Afghanistan. Or the entire Middle East for that matter.

We can do better. That’s not a political statement. That’s an admonition directed at each and every one of us.

November 21, 2012