Does not every individual struggle with the dual issues of meaning and mortality? We each yearn to believe that our lives are of some significance in this vast universe, that our presence here is meaningful and purposeful. Moreover, we want to believe that the essence of life does not cease abruptly when that last breath is taken --- that something of us continues on past our brief moment of mortal being.
I think we can best create meaning and immortality through our simple acts of goodness. Every moment that we spend giving, sharing, helping, loving, touching, or inspiring another is a moment with purpose, and in these actions the giver is making meaning in his or her own life. It is a truth also that every such act becomes a part of the world's history, never to be undone or removed from the record of time. More than this, goodness begets goodness, like a story that is shared and passed on, each listener touched, then in turn becoming the storyteller who touches another. And so it is with every act of kindness or loving, the giver bestows goodwill on a receiver, who is affected in such a way that he or she becomes the giver who touches yet another, and so on, and so on.
I believe then, that through generosity, compassion, and love, I can fill my life with meaning. And, in so doing, I hope to leave something of myself in the hearts of those I touch that will last well past my short earthly stay. Indeed, if I leave even a few droplets of goodness in the river of life, they will flow into the ocean of eternity and there I will live forever. |
