The Meaning of Life is Sharing Life
Posted: Saturday, July 21, 2007
by Jon Searles
Throughout my life I have, like so many others, searched for its meaning. Grasping to understand my place in the world, where I am from and where I will go, made me realize that I am no more than one of the grains of sand on the seashore of descendants as promised by God to Abraham in Genesis 22:17. I can be washed away by the water, blown around by the wind, or used in the gizzard of a seagull to grind its food. We are all completely insignificant, less than unique, and easily forgotten among all those that inhabit the coastal shores of our world. We are simply the next cliché of human existence in a different time or are we?
The written word, music, and song are primarily written about lives shared here on earth. Lyrics and melodies that tell of life’s humor, seriousness, beauty, darkness, success, disappointment, joy, and sorrow are ways that the songwriters and poets share their lives with us and others. Fiction, or non-fiction thoughts are shared with others to provoke the imagination and convey a feeling or idea. Why else would you write anything or post anything at Searchwarp? The meaning of life is sharing life by connecting with the emotions of others you will never know.
Our children are lives we help to form. My eldest son has become quite a confident man, college student, and soldier. I had always wanted to join the military like my son, father, grandfather, and great grandfather before me but my pride and stubbornness outmaneuvered my good sense. My middle son is a good student, computer literate, very athletic, confident demeanor, and a physical and mental toughness that I did not have at his age. My daughter has always had a beautiful voice, outgoing spirit, and a desire to perform, which is something I never had the nerve to pursue. Living vicariously through your children is not a sin, as long as it is viewed as a responsibility, privilege and blessing. I may not have joined the military, been emotionally and physically strong at a young age, or had the ability to sing like a bird, but my children have given that to me. You are only the spectator who can boo, cheer, laugh, or cry but you can share. The meaning of life is sharing life with those you love and grow with every day.
Imagine your ancestors trying to fathom the meaning of life and having the opportunity to look into the future to see how their family tree would grow and branch and prosper. How those that owe their existence to those before would live long, die young, prosper, fail, hate, or love. Jasper Newton Searles, my great, great, grandfather, soldier, lawyer, judge, husband and whose existence predestined my own could never have imagined what was ahead for his family. The meaning of life is sharing life though you may never know what you shared.
The lives we touch that mean so much to us and the light you have an opportunity to share with others. The first friend in kindergarten, first teacher, first kiss, first boss, and first experience with the death of someone you knew. The first baseball caught, first ball dropped, first triumph, first failure, first love, first heart break, and all those things that follow your firsts. Not always positive uplifting experiences but definitely the sum of your life that all help to form who you are and how you will share life’s meaning with others. The meaning of life is sharing life with those that pass through.
Others have transcended simply sharing life with those they casually come in contact with in their travels. They have worked to seek out those that need other lives shared in their own. People like Billy Graham, Martin Luther King, Gandhi, Mother Teresa stepped outside the norm and shared life with people that needed to hear a message. Each knew that the meaning of life involved sharing life unselfishly.
Christ came to earth so we may have life. His Word expounds the meaning of life in his example “…to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1). In the words of Christ “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." Christ’s example was sharing his life with us. He knew that the meaning of life was sharing life by sacrificing his own.
The meaning of life is sharing life.
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Jon, Inspired thoughts you have shared. You are right you know. The examples you cited all share the same idea...that is, sharing the best of who we are, where ever we might be. Contained within this is the only way we can intend and "mean" to be. Your walls are covered with what you shared. I say, expand your walls and keep taking photos. The rest of the world awaits you.Please log in to respond to this comment.
"You are only the spectator who can boo, cheer, laugh, or cry but you can share. The meaning of life is sharing life" "We cannot all be musicians some one has to appreciate the music" Very good article it has my votePlease log in to respond to this comment.
Thank you for sharing. You have a thumbs up from me.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Jon, I have mascara on and your article made me cry... Your aricle moved me very much and I think it says it all. Thank you for sharing a very moving piece and may it touch others as it had me! You have my vote!Please log in to respond to this comment.
Jon, I had to give you a thumbs up too. Beautifully written! Judi was not the only once crying. I too had tears in my eyes.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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