7100 Is life on earth an end in itself or the means to an end....

April 23, 1958: Book 75

The life of a human being on earth would have no real reason if it was merely an end in itself.... With other words, you humans would find it difficult to find a real reason for it because you can clearly see the vast differences between human destinies and would constantly question the purpose of a hard, sorrowful, miserable life. Yet you could find an immediate answer if you looked at life not as an end in itself but as the means to an end. If every person's fate were the same, if every human being's life consisted of harmony, no problems, pleasures and worldly happiness, hardly differing from other people's lives, then you could certainly believe that there is no deeper purpose to earthly life than that of life itself. But as soon as you seriously think about it you will not be satisfied with this explanation.... you will search for a deeper reason and will certainly find it because it only requires a question on your part in order to give you an answer. And all human beings should ask themselves this question.... For it really does not show intelligence or intellectual activity if a person is satisfied to experience life merely as a whim of the Creator. Every person who claims to be intelligent would hardly use his time and effort making entirely useless things.... nor would he want to regard himself as an entirely useless creature with the sole purpose of supporting himself.... without being able to determine the length of his existence.... Is earthly life an end in itself or the means to an end?....

It could be very beneficial for someone lacking in faith to raise this question. You humans are by no means expected to have blind faith, for such blind faith is of no value. But you can use your intelligence, you can consider every aspect of what you are required to believe. Serious thought can lead you to an acceptable result, and you can rest assured that such mental effort will be blessed if it is applied to achieve greater insight.... to the knowledge of what is still hidden from you humans but which need not remain hidden from you. To discover the purpose of earthly life as a human being is one such insight, since it belongs to the region of the unprovable, but it can nevertheless be gratifying to a person if he genuinely wants it. Because as soon as he realises that human life is merely the means to an end, increasingly more questions will arise in him. He will try to discover the true purpose and then also become aware of his own task, he will no longer be satisfied with just worrying about earthly life, he will learn to look at everything as determined by purpose.... and then he will find and pursue a spiritual attitude which will completely satisfy him....

The conscious life of a human being only begins when he understands the purpose of earthly life. Because then his thoughts will aim towards a goal which he will try to achieve. Only then will he himself endeavour to start improving his soul; only then earthly activities will move into the background, although he also will be able to master his earthly life with God's help, Who will bless this approach to life and repeatedly make new aspects accessible to him which will make him think and lead him to an ascent. An earthly life in the awareness of purpose can never be lived in vain; it has to result in spiritual success, whereas a person looking at life as an end in itself will not acquire any spiritual advantage. As soon as he is willing to love, questions about the real purpose of life on earth will also arise and then his thinking will change too. However, if he is unwilling to love.... which is usually the case with those who have not yet recognised the purpose of life.... one cannot speak of higher development, the person's soul remains as it was at the beginning of his embodiment, life on earth will have been in vain and then the immense blessing, which could have resulted in the highest reward, will be lost.... But every human being can come to the realisation that he lives on earth for a purpose because every human being has the ability to think, because he can weigh one thought against another and is therefore able to form his own opinion.

And on serious reflection he would definitely come to that insight, because he can recognise a certain purpose of lawful order within the creation of nature which he would also have to apply to himself.... or he would have a very limited capacity of thought, an attitude which could hardly be called intelligent. The human being can come to the realisation that there is a purpose to earthly life or he could not be held responsible for how he has used this earthly life. People who do not want to recognise a purpose of earthly life in fact deny this accountability, but enough evidence in the creation of nature can be found that no natural law, no divine order, can be trespassed without consequences. Thus the human being also has to accept a certain order for himself; he too has to feel part of this law of order. Thus he cannot arbitrarily shape his life without any responsibility towards God, Who created everything, but he has to try to support the law of divine order. He has to acknowledge a Lawgiver, and then he will also feel responsible to this Lawgiver. If this Lawgiver is not acknowledged, then the human being will not feel responsible to a Lord; then he is clearly still subject to a God-opposing power, which always tries to influence a person such that his earthly life will be to no avail, that any belief in a purpose and aim of earthly existence fades away, so that this power can hold on to him again for an infinitely long time....

Amen

This proclamation is used in the following themebooks:

Themebook	Title	Download
5	The Mystery of Man	ePub   PDF   Kindle
83	What Is The Meaning And Purpose Of Life On Earth?	ePub   PDF   Kindle

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