Wisdom will Die with You

For the past week I have been pondering the very existence of man. I do not doubt that we exist, but I have been asking myself, ‘why?’. What is the purpose of mankind? I would like to think of myself as making a difference in the world, but am I? What have I got to offer to the world that the world needs, that it doesn’t already have?

My whole life I have been driven to be better. Every time I accomplish one thing, I move on, without so much as a blink of the eye, and work on the next project, that will be bigger and better than the last. I have been doing this for over twenty years now and have never stopped to think what exactly I am accomplishing… until this week.

I was doing my research for my degree, when all of a sudden I wondered why I was doing it. Would it contribute in some way to help mankind or is it just an illusion of knowledge? What could I do that would last centuries? I realized that this research would only last as long as the next person comes along and takes it one step further. Sure, I could do this research and make it better each time, but one day I will die, and what then? What was the point? What are we are striving for that will last past our days of living?

Some people call it their legacy. Some even call their children their legacy, but what of the people without kids? What if we look beyond our own kind, beyond human beings… what will be remembered then?

I have always wanted to gain more and more knowledge. I read everything from newspapers to novels. I talk to people from different careers, cultures, and countries. I even strive to learn three languages. My life is consumed by the desire to know more. But what does this knowledge do for me? Where does it get me?

I heard today someone say this, “You can have all of the knowledge, but if you don’t know how to use it, you have no wisdom. Without wisdom, you are useless.” Are you useless? Am I? I ask again, where does this knowledge get me? What do I want to leave behind in this world that will be remembered by people generations from now? What do I want to leave behind…

I can honestly say that I don’t know, but that I hope to know one day, perhaps when I am ready to take on that challenge. So many things on this planet do not need the knowledge that we crave. The trees, the animals, the water, the very air. It is all so magnificent and it is exactly as it should be. Where will our thumbprint be after we die? Who will remember?

Maybe it’s not even about people. Do we need to be remembered to feel important? Maybe adopting a little puppy will remember your cuddles. Maybe the waves will remember you enjoying the surf. Maybe a higher power will smile down at you and embrace you upon your death.

So, what is worth doing in this lifetime? We only get one. We cannot rewind or pause. What really matters?

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the sea inform you.” Job 12:7-8

 

Agape

Last night was a big event for Unite Thornbury! We had such a multi-cultural group with lots of smiles and love in their hearts. I feel so blessed to have found a group of people who I may call my family without having any blood relation. I think that is true love, because with your family, it is often expected to love each other ‘just because’ you are related. You must, in a sense. Sometimes if you don’t love someone in your family, people think you are strange or that something is wrong…

However, loving a person for WHO they are, not how you know them, is even more powerful, I believe. You have no reasons, no relations, no blood to love them and, yet, you do. How amazing is that love?! Think of a best friend or your spouse… it feels so much more free to be who you are. No judging, no prejudice, no expectations, because they know YOU.

It frustrates me when I am judged based on my friends, my family, my culture, my language, my country, etc, etc… It is unbelievably frustrating, because I just want people to see me! Why is that so hard in today’s world? Everyone gets so comfortable being with their ‘own kind’, but I never understood what that meant, because we are all human beings on the same earth! Why must we judge? Why must we envy? Love, people! Love is so powerful: more powerful than all other feelings, and we still disregard it as weakness. Why? Is it weak to cry when holding a newborn baby? Is it weak to hug a brother with another skin color? Is it weak to laugh and joke in all different languages? Is it really weak? Love…

I often dream about a world that is so filled with love, that is alters the entire planet. What would it be like? To love one another, to love all creatures, to love cities and nature… Just love…