I was just stalking a priest on Facebook, you know, like you do, and I got to thinking about the meaning of life. No, this isn't usual for me either and I wasn't actually stalking him, I just came across his post and it said something like
Without Resurrection, there would be no point to falling in love, to loving, to getting married and having kids. It would be useless because then we'd die, and all just be in our graves.
And it struck me as odd and ultimately, wrong. So, the only reason to fall in love is because we're coming back at some point? That doesn't sound very fair, does it? More over, it doesn't sound like love. No, love is this crazy thing, beautiful and wild and heart-racing and...completely illogical. I didn't fall in love with you knowing I'd find you again someday, that we're guaranteed continuity. Dude, seriously, don't you read? Or just look around yourself? Love isn't a guarantee, neither is life. And when I'm having kids, I'm definitely not having them because I might find them again someday. That is a very selfish way to view things.
I was just looking through the comments and someone rightly asked
okay, you know, that's great. But loving and having kids and all we do in this life right here – doesn't that matter?
And then came the answer, from the above mentioned priest:
It matters, but only with the promise of an afterlife. If there is none, then all of this is meaningless.
And it gets more annoying every time I re-read it. Umm...no? Without the promise of an afterlife, it's only more meaningful. So you only love your wife in the idea that you get a guarantee, that this is long lasting and you'll have someone to love when you come back? This is so weird.
I don't know, maybe I just don't speak priest, but this concept disturbs me a great deal. But it gets me thinking, which I like.
It makes me wonder about the meaning of life. Why do we love? Why do we fall in love? In the hope of a guarantee, surely, in the hope that the object of our affection will love us back and we'll be happy. But we don't actually get that guarantee. Nobody gives you a contract when you fall in love and thank God for that, because what kind of love would that be? One written down on paper, already sealed and promised and so painfully certain. Nothing is certain in love, nothing.
I love you because I am here today. I love you because right in this moment, it feels like the thing to do, because now, you are all I want. Hell, I don't want to die, but the fact that I might die tomorrow makes me love you all the more. Because our time together is limited and so very precious. I treasure each second of it, each smile, each passing glance. Because tomorrow we might not be together anymore and that crushes my very soul. But it's the truth.
I'd love it to see you again, but right now, it's just a dream, you know? A fantasy, that we'll be together forever.
How can you say life has no point without an afterlife? Seriously, do this people go around like 'fuck, I better find someone soon 'cause that afterlife is just around the corner and I might end up alone for all eternity'?
I hope not, it seems very sad if they do. I can't help but think 'hello, you already have a life, why are you so eagerly waiting for another'?
Now, I get religious people and I get the appeal of an afterlife – it's a second chance, really, isn't it? It doesn't matter you missed the bus, 'cause there's another one coming. And I get the need to believe that, but what irritates me about this concept is that it takes the focus away from this life.
You know, even in the whole hell/heaven theory, we're only doing things for fear of Hell or a desire to get to Heaven, the focus is on those, rather on this life right here.
Another question – if we were to discover for absolute certain that there is no afterlife, you're not getting resurrected, nothing, that this is all there is, what would these people do? Next time you see someone you like, are you going to go 'oh forget it, there's no point, there's no eternal life anyway'? Well, I doubt that. There might not be an eternal one, but there's a good thirty years left of this one, what about those? Do they just stop mattering?
That's very depressing indeed.
I don't believe there's an eternal life somewhere, no matter how nice it sounds, and I don't believe in a whole lot of things, but I do believe in love. I think love is the only thing worth fighting for in this world of ours, the most incredible feeling. I'm always going to love, even when I shouldn't, even when it's wrong, even if I die tomorrow. Because the only promise I get is today. The moment I'm alive in and that's the one where I'm gonna love you. Not because we might spend the year together, or the whole eternity.
Might is a risky word, so I won't stake my love on it.
Thank you for reading,
