Do you know where your life is going? Do ya think that you were put on this earth for other things?

Do you ever wonder if this is the right job,or if God has another direction for you?

All I can do is think I must have done something really aweful in the universe to be put on this hell hole.......

In my opinion things started going downhill in the 90s......

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Were you born in the 90s?

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

It’s been getting worse longer than that.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I have struggled with my faith since I nearly lost my daughter to blood loss. A transfusion saved her.

Without my faith all I can see ahead is a lonely death and with my faith I struggle to see how I am worthy of anything better anyway

Depression talking. I do not recommend it

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I definitely wonder why some people are here ...

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Depression is a terrible thing. I've just found out that a friend tried to hang himself because his depression got so bad.

If it's any consolation, life goes quicker the older you get and the time spent here will be over before you know it. All I can suggest to you is to talk to God, avoid negative/toxic people (such people are usually suffering themselves) and try to find help to overcome it like your GP, Andys Man Club etc


You are worthy & all the best.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I’m not sure we have a purpose, we just wander around finding interesting things and situations (good or bad) until we die.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

l am not religious as such but a strong inner faith has got me through more then one person usually gets in a lifetime.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

This made me laugh :)

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

We're all totally insignificant. We don't even register in the grand scheme of things. Make the most of living your life as that's all we get. Use it or waste it.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

What defines using it or wasting it though !

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

When your life flashes before eyes in your dying moments I suppose defines it.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Does there need to be a 'reason' for us to be here or to exist? i've never felt I'm here for a purpose, or that I need to find a purpose. Sometimes things just are what they are - consciousness is one of those things. When those neurons stop firing, what made you you is gone. You're back to the place you were before you came to be. And I'm ok with that. Don't waste your time waiting for someone or something to give you a direction - that's all on you. Do the things you enjoy, be kind, inquisitive and mindful, don't hurt others. It's all pretty simple.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

If you’re nothing more than a bag of self-aware chemistry, how do you arrive at moral imperatives like these? Genuinely curious.

---------- Post added at 17:14 ---------- Previous post was at 17:02 ----------

I’m a Christian in full-time pastoral ministry and convinced I am fulfilling a divine calling. Because of that, I know in general terms where my life is going but I wouldn’t be so arrogant as to claim to be sure I’m not on Earth for other things. There are aspects of my ministry I will mess up in some way, and there are aspects of my future life I as yet know nothing about. Even within my calling in its narrowest sense (run a church, look after people, and above all preach the good news of Jesus) there’s an immense amount of detail missing.

God’s direction for me beyond the next few years is his business. Until I know otherwise I plan to serve him as I’ve been trained to until I retire, which is less than 20 years from now. But that could change.

Incidentally I don’t know how you conceive of ‘God’ but if you mean in the Judeo-Christian sense then you emphatically weren’t put here because of some past-life evil. There is no concept of a wheel of reincarnation in any of the mainstream Abrahamic religions or their derivatives.

As for the 90s, well that’s when religion ceased to be religion to me, and became a living faith in a living saviour. So I disagree on that point. My life took a different and far better path from then.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

To keep the 6,000 Shinigami's in work. :D

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

The thing to remember is that 'moral imperitives' are a social construct. In fact, our everyday lives are run and governed by a set of social constructs designed to keep peace and stop those animal instincs from runnign riot in the street! Without laws and rules, civilisation as we know it would not be. I guess the word 'moral' is how we describe 'not being a dick'. Unfortunately, there are enough epople in the world that we need to enforce rules because a lot fo people would just be dicks. To be fair, some still are all the same!

Now that is not to say that there would be no civilisation. At the very least, there would be groups that work work together in order to care for young, hunt, provide and protect.

And this is where the my viewpoint comes in;

Do the things you enjoy
Society and civilisation in the form we currently are fortunate enough to live as part of, affords us the opportunity to take up intrests and hobbies of our choosing. We are not bound by any laws here in the uK which are too overbearing, nor prevent us from seeking pleasures that other coun tries or regimes might see as immoral or against the state / their God or whatever it might be. I can choose, for example, to pick up a camera and take photos, or delve into an education in psychology, or drive a nice car. This things bring me pleasure, and so other things bring others pleasure - where you can, and where it is not to the detriment of others, one should seek to take those pleasures.

Be kind
An obvious one really. Being kind is to the benefit of oneself and to others. It's a way to build rapport and to bond. You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. Good relationships are beneficial, and you won't get those by being an arse to people. Beyond that, doing good deeds has been proven in many, many studies to release endorphines - they make us feel good. So if we can feel good about what we do and also bring benefit to others at the same time, why would we not?

Be inquisitive
It's so important for our own growth as a perosn to want to know more, learn more, understand better. Especially other people. The more we know, the better equipt we are to deal with situations. By standing still, digging heels into the ground and refusing to listen, learn and become more, we will stagnate, be left behind and get stuck in our ways. This does not benefit anyone at all, especially oneself.

Be mindful
Your actions have an affect on others, not just yourself. Think about how what you do or say might affect other people. It ties in tightly to doing thing you enjoy (ensuring it is not at the detriment of others), being kind and being inquisitive. It is the overarching governance required for the other aspects to be successful for everyone who might be touvched or involved by those things. It also leads us onto...

Don't hurt others
Again, this is about ensuring relationships are beneficial to everyone. And if they are not, if there is toxicity in there, walk away. You don't have to maintain a relationship if you do not wish to. But even in this scenario, you still do not need to hurt others, either physically or mentally. Their might be times when you may hurt someone emotionally, or indeed be hurt emotionally. But we would all do well to rmeember that whilst we cannot control the actions of others onto us, we can control how we react and move on from that.


I hope that covers it. We are very lucky to have such an opportunity of being alive, being conscious, being able to build relationships and enjoy things. Let's not be toxic, rude or dismissive and take those pleasures away from others whilst we have our time. We spend a lot of time not being here - be good and nice whilst you are here.

Wow I didnt realise this Chris,God bless you!!

Are you Born Again??

I hope ya dont mean ME Paul,I try to not make people mad.. I wanna have friends and all :)

No mate I was born in 1969,how about you??

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I had you down as in early 20s the way you talk on the forum not 54...

Wow im surprised ya had me that high buddy :)

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

What do you mean that HIGH? You said you were born in 1969 which makes you ages 54.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I don't get it either. You've only got to google 'Dude111 chocolate milk' and you'll see the problem.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Wow, he belongs to so many forums, I am surprised he has the time to post here :)

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I've corrected that for you....

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I know. I guess copy and pasting the same thing in many forums because easy after a while. Don't know how many forums I've been looking for stuff after a Google search only to find threads by Dude on them:erm:

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Did you like the first result Dude111 please stop continually reviving dead threads :D got to admit I kind of like him doing it and therefore being reminded of absent friends :(

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

According to the Westminster Shorter Catechism:


Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever. [b]
[a]. Ps. 86:9; Isa. 60:21; Rom. 11:36; 1 Cor. 6:20; 10:31; Rev.
4:11[b]. Ps. 16:5-11; 144:15; Isa. 12:2; Luke 2:10; Phil. 4:4; Rev.
21:3-4

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Yeah. I’m more about being nice to others and learn to understand people more.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Your words are at odds with the apparent dismissiveness of your tone.

How does this satisfy your own stated intentions to be ‘kind’, ‘inquisitive’ and ‘mindful’ as you explained earlier?

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Not at all. My meaning is that I would rather be kind to others and inquisitive because in my opinion, that is the right way to behave, rather than do it because otherwise I may be judged by a higher being. Why would one not be just as concerned about what one’s peers feel as a result of one’s actions?

I don’t feel the need to behave in a certain way to appease a prophet or deity - I’d rather do it because I want to. Because I can be a benefit to fellow people, even those I don’t know. Because I might be able to make better someone else’s day. I won’t ask for anything in return. I won’t do it because I fear any kind of eternal damnation. I simply do it because it is simple to do, and costs me nothing at all, but pays in plenty for those in receipt.

If others’ motives are different, that’s up to them. being kind and mindful does not mean I must agree with everyone else. I can still have my own opinion and thoughts, so long as I do not forcefully impose them on others, expecting them to think in the same way. That’s not feel will - that’s dictating. If someone chooses to think and act in the same way as I do, that’s great, but it is also entirely up to them.

Out of interest Chris, as you didn’t respond to the answer I gave to your previous question, does my response make sense? Did you have any further questions?

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Which rather illustrates my point. What you’ve provided here is a set of prejudicial assumptions. Tweetiepooh didn’t say any of these things. None of them are necessarily implicit in the post in question either. You are absolutely free to construct an ethical scheme of your own choosing of course. But you are patently failing to live up to it. Your reply was not kind and it was not inquisitive - had it at least been inquisitive you could have dismissed it based on a disagreement over what it actually is, rather than what you assume it is, which would arguably have been at least somewhat kind. But a brief dismissal opening with “Yeah.” ?… not so much.

I will add more later on the importance to European civilisation of the ethical scheme that does actually arise from what Tweetiepooh posted.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I am dismissive of this line…

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, [a] and to enjoy him for ever.

…Because I do not agree with it.

Like I say, being kind and inquisitive does not mean I must agree with everything others say or believe. Being inquisitive is less about the belief itself, but more about the motivation and reasoning as to why that belief is held. They are very separate things. So yes, I can be dismissive of the belief, but as you should well know by now from the many years on the forum, I am very interested in why someone believes something. Please try not to confuse the two.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

After many, many years on the forum you’re quite right, I’m not letting you get away with retconning yourself like this. ;)

I know you don’t agree with Christian theology and certainly don’t expect you to pretend to agree fpr the sake of argument. But in the light of what you claim your ethical framework to be, that unfortunate slip into internet slang “Yeah…” really does undo you somewhat. It was dismissive and unkind. You then followed up with a bar-room caricature of religious faith that is truly absurd and underlines why being kind, inquisitive and mindful would actually be a good thing on your part. You will never, ever, understand the overwhelming majority of your fellow human beings if you refuse to engage with what drives them.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

Being kind and inquisitive isn't enough on its own. You need to be able to listen and understand other people as well. There is a lot to learn from Christian ideals whether you agree or believe in it or not.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I’m not denying it was dismissive. It absolutely was, because I do agree with that line. That does not mean it is an undoing of my principles in any way. It means I have an opinion that differs. I certainly wasn’t rude. I didn’t ridicule. I wasn’t abusive. I was dismissive.

The tone it may have been received in is down to the individual- you have taken it as being unkind. Others may have too. Some may not. Tone is very hard to convey in written form. Intent and perception are not always aligned. My intention was not to be rude - let that be clear, my intention was to clearly show I did not agree. I think that judging by your responses, I was successful! I’m failing to see why my use of ‘slang’ undoes my reasons and motivations for behaviours.

And you’re right. I want to know what drives them, as I stated in my last post. I may not agree with their belief, but it’s not the belief I necessarily care about, it’s the motivation and reasoning that got them to that position.

---------- Post added at 21:21 ---------- Previous post was at 21:17 ----------

To understand other people, absolutely. And so I would, and have on many an occasion here alone, been inquisitive about people’s motivations and drives. However, in this example, the line I disagreed with is a statement. It is not a question or an explanation to anything. It’s written as an instruction. One I am not aligned with myself.

If anyone agrees with the statement, I would live to hear why. As I have said, the statement is not of interest, the reasons why someone gets there is.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

It's merely a suggestion rather than an instruction.

Re: Do you ever wonder why you are here?
 

I guess this proves my point about intention and perception being quite different

Well I mean mentally im around 8 or so they tell me,that might help you understand how I am :)

I dont want to make anyone mad,I just want friends!!