Article #68
Subject: Purpose of our Lives
Author: Andrew W. Harrell
Posted: 5/28/2011 05:09:34 PM

thoughts posted on twitter May 2011

To serve Truth, to contemplate, to realize God..."This is why I was born, for
this I have come into the World." John 18:37

All things work together for good for those who love God (with their full
heart and mind). St. Paul

The "Times they are a'changin" don't speak now for the wheel it is still in
full spin..The loser now, will be later to win. Bob Dylan,Odetta

"The joy of all who dwell above, the joy of all below, to whom He manifests
His love, and grants His name to know." hymn byThomas Kelly 1820

Look ye saints, the sight is glorious...Rich the trophies Jesus brings...own
His title, praise His name. Thomas Kelly Christ Crowned Rv41806

Article #241
Subject: further thoughts on this topic while in Switzerland
Author: Andrew W. Harrell
Posted: 1/4/2015 06:11:58 PM

From an http://www.ourprayergroup.blogspot.com October 2014 posting after a
CAL Berkeley Alumni trip to Switzerland

During this day’s trip the question came up (someone asked it while we were
going up the cable route to the mountain top) “What is the purpose of life.” I
said I believe that the purpose of life is to bring heaven on earth, just like
what we as Christians and Jews pray for in the Lord’s prayer given to us by
Jesus. As Christians we believe that heaven on earth already exists to some
extent and that we are all working toward bringing more of it down to earth. I
also believe that if you really want to find Jesus today to help you, you can
find him just like the early Christians did 2000 years ago, as a “liberal
outsider”. As Christians we do not believe like Buddhists that we have to do
all the work either by ourselves or by our ‘sanga’ to find enlightenment in
this way, but that God helps us when we meet him in these situations. And, in
addition, we believe that he helps us find salvation for our souls, we also
have redemption, justification, and santification (in that order roughly) that
he helps us with in these situations of dying to ourselves and being reborn in
Him. We have a God, we believe he exists, and therefore instead of having to
take a thousand different lives in order to reach our goal He can help us
reach it in just this one life. But, we can be reborn, not just as a mind, but
also as a body, and He is in the Church also.