DESTINATION... ?
Have you ever thought about where you're going?
Not like to Target or the post office or to work, but something more cosmic. Something more than the here and now. It occurred to me recently as I was watching cable news. I saw news of crimes that have been committed; serious and not so serious and just plain old moral bankruptcy. Whether young or old, wrong decisions, wrong turns leading to consequences, I asked myself why people would do these things. Let me give you some examples. Take a grizzled, tough guy from the inner city. He's addicted to drugs - needs some more but has no money. So he hits a liquor store and ends up killing the guy behind the counter in the process of the robbery. Then there's the mother who is at the grocery store with her young daughter. The little girl sees a package of cereal she wants, but the mother doesn't. The next act is the tantrum that embarrasses the mother. The final act is when Mom has had enough and calls her daughter a (expletive) nuisance and asks her daughter if she wants a spanking, followed by a swift swat on the backside resulting in howls of pain and crying. How about Mrs. What's-her-name who's been embezzling from the firm she works for? All that petty cash wasn't so petty after all. Now multiply these three examples, with thousands added to it, many times over. Wouldn't you think that at some point these individuals would just once consider what happens after this life?
People give a lot of thought to trivial - and not so trivial things - but what about to the profound? There are those who spend hours thinking about investments, others research possible vacation destinations, some who invest countless hours into planning the perfect crime. Of course, not all things are a waste of time when it comes to what to think about. It's just that proportionately, how much time is spent contemplating what the future - beyond this life - might hold? Do they think that the afterlife is a void - that death simply puts an end to life? I wonder how it's possible to live a full and enjoyable life when this is all there is. Maybe they have chosen the pursuit of enjoyment because they really do believe that's all there is. It's not like there isn't a library in each town or a church on practically every street corner in America or that there aren't any credible televangelists on television, particularly cable, probably twenty-four hours a day. Or Bibles galore in every thrift store; some for free. So why do many people choose to ignore investigating when it could be quite easy?
Was Blaise Pascal's Wager right at the notion of those doubting the existence of God, might in essence put one's life on the line in terms of a bet?
Pascal's Wager is an argument in philosophy presented by the seventeenth century French philosopher, mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal (1623–62).[1] It posits that humans bet with their lives that God either exists or does not. Pascal argues that a rational person should live as though God exists and seek to believe in God. If God does not actually exist, such a person will have only a finite loss (some pleasures, luxury, etc.), whereas they stand to receive infinite gains (as represented by eternity in Heaven) and avoid infinite losses (eternity in Hell).[2]
Source: Wikipedia
Unfortunately, Pascal was a sickly man and died at the ripe old age of thirty-nine, so perhaps he contemplated the deep things fairly early on. Not everyone has a window of opportunity to prepare for that sure thing. Many, if they have the opportunity, might be frightened enough to accomplish a deathbed confession, affording them some peace before passing. But, the point I'm making is why don't people, especially those who commit evil deeds ever stop to think about what the takeaway is, not just in this life - but focusing on the big picture? After this life, when there has been ample opportunity in myriad cases, will individuals find that they are actually conscious and slap their collective foreheads and declare as in the commercial: "Wow! I could've had a V-8!"
Finally, I remember a slogan on a T-shirt that was popular years ago and may still be. At that time I thought it was rather funny when I read it. It said:
I've thought a lot about it. The Bible says a lot more about hell than it does about heaven. I'm 59. My first wife passed away when she was 30. She was saved. I believe that our two stillborn children are there too.
Thanks for reading this. It was rather difficult to put into words without sounding like preaching. It just seems strange, with all that's going on in the world, that more people don't give thought to where they're headed. By the way, I'm sorry that you lost your wife and two babies, but glad that your wife and babies are saved.
Great food for thought. I agree--we should plan for the next life. I've thought about his wager too. It makes logical sense.
But here's another twist to that idea. Paul the apostle said (paraphrased), "if Christ is not raised, we are still in our sins. And we are to be pitied above all men. If our hope is only in this life, we might as well eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow, we die."
In other words, if there is no God, what is the point of life? Might as well get all you can, while you can.
But there is a God, and Christ was raised, and so we live with that firm expectation. Not for our best life now, but for our best life then.
The point of living is to experience God and to help others to as well.
Thank you for your comment!