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    The Meaning of Life
    The Meaning of Life
    The Meaning of Life
    Ebook127 pages1 hour

    The Meaning of Life

    By Dwight Nortman

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    About this ebook

    Is there actually a divine purpose to life? Does divine providence permeate through all of creation, or are we simply a by-product of the system, created by men? Could we really be floating through an endless galaxy, moving at incredible speed and circling around a giant sun, with millions of dangerous astroids flying past each year, all by absolute coincedence, all completely by random chance? If so, who is in control of it all? Who created it? Who preserves the fragile balance of life on earth? How much faith do you need to believe in random chance, verses divine inspiration? The choice is yours to make. This short book is simply here to offer a different perspective in a world filled with so much opinion and information, yet so little truth. Every day more and more people die pointless deaths, not ever reaching the full experince of what they were created to achieve. In a world with so much suffering, so much pain and so much disorder, is it possible that we as a society have lost our way, or simply been conditioned away from the truth? Each and every person on this earth has value and a purpose ordained for their lives. We must grow and learn, not only to become better people, but also to make sure we are not in error in our lives. After all, if there is a God, He might just have some rules for us to follow, and this is the most logical truth, condsidering the order of creation and the perfect laws of nature, mathematics and physical sciences.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDwight Nortman
    Release dateJan 22, 2020
    ISBN9780463714874
    The Meaning of Life

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      Book preview

      The Meaning of Life - Dwight Nortman

      Copyright © 2019 Dwight Nortman

      Published by Dwight Nortman for Smashwords

      First edition 2019

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system without permission from the copyright holder.

      The Author has made every effort to trace and acknowledge sources/resources/individuals. In the event that any images/information have been incorrectly attributed or credited, the Author will be pleased to rectify these omissions at the earliest opportunity.

      Published by Dwight Nortman using Reach Publishers’ services,

      Edited by Vanessa Finaughty for Reach Publishers

      Cover designed by Reach Publishers

      P O Box 1384, Wandsbeck, South Africa, 3631

      Website: www.reachpublishers.org

      E-mail: reach@reachpublish.co.za

      About the Author

      A layman, imperfect and uncontrolled at times. Flawed with error, but filled with faith. Born in Africa, having crossed many oceans, fought many wars and climbed the highest mountains. Prepared to die for the knowledge of the truth; unprepared to walk in the ways of compromise. Little by little, day by day, this story came together, like my own life. Always compromised by failure, disappointment and struggle, but always made perfect in the anointing of God’s spirit. I, as are all men, am imperfect, the story one of humility and one of truth, as I see myself. Though the world will attempt to compromise and deter us from our calling, although it will keep us busier and busier, we must stop and look up. For nothing is greater than the coming of the Lord. So, call me brother, disciple or servant; I am but a steward of the truth that has been placed inside me through the manifest working of the chapter of love.

      Table of Contents

      About the Author

      Questions

      The Elephant and the Shoestring

      A World Without God

      The Flood

      Jesus, the Messiah from the Beginning

      Jesus, the Messiah Fulfils Prophecy

      The Script for Glory

      Power of the Tongue

      Mastering the Flesh

      Our Greatest Strength is Love

      Chapter 1

      Questions

      The meaning of life! Wow, what a question, or a statement, however you choose to read it. Why are we here; what is the purpose of it all? I have asked myself that question so many times and I am sure most of us have too. I can feel the yearning of my heart to know why I am here, for what reason I was placed here. Was I, in fact, placed here, or am I randomly just a by-product of something else, destined to live my few short years here on Earth and then vanish like dust to never be again? If that was the case, what is the purpose of it all? Should we all just let go and indulge ourselves in as much pleasure, satisfaction and indulgences as we can handle? If that was the case, can we imagine all the disorder? Is there perhaps so much disorder in the world today because of this type of thinking? Are we as people still accountable for our actions, our desires, our thoughts? Does government exist to kerb our lack of self-control and lawlessness? What stops us from doing what we want? If I chose to take what you have unlawfully, or take your partner by force, or murder whom I please because it appealed to my centre of desire and pleasure? It is a broad question and one that cannot go unanswered! What direction have people taken today; what direction has society taken today in these difficult times? Let us as people ask ourselves this question. Is it possible that we are randomly just here by chance? Did we evolve from nothing into something through millions of years of natural selection, of change, of complexity from nothing? If so, what governs our conscience? Is it what we have been trained to believe? Controlled by religion; controlled by government? If we are lawless, we are punished; this is so well trained into us. Is this why such dark passions grow out of people? If people could express themselves, would they be punished by institution? Is that why we allow forces of darkness to grow in secret places when we could help one another? Are we free, or is freedom an obscene notion? If we live on the grid, we enjoy its pleasures, money, commercialism, materialism and perceived security. If we choose to rebel against the system, one way or another we will get caught, punished and possibly imprisoned. Is freedom then just an illusion? Accept the laws and rules of society even if they go against conscience and moral principle or fail to be part of it? Do we really have to go through schooling, get a job, build a stable income, have a family and one day retire? Shortly after retiring at an old age, having given the best of my life to this system and then die shortly afterwards? The only part of me remaining once I die being my material possessions, which will inevitably perish with time, or my children, who will have their own children; perhaps they will all sit down around the fire one day and briefly mention my life, perhaps reminisce over moments with me, or about me, only to vanish just as before when the conversation stops. Is this all I leave behind; do I die and become soil, ash and thin air? Does my conscience cease to exist when my mortal body dies? Will I never be again? How depressing to think of such a fate. Once I am gone, I am gone! Was this the case for the billions who died before me and might die in time to come?

      This confusion, these questions, what, which, when, why and who – who can answer them? Who? Religion? Science? Gurus and wise men? Spiritualists? Mediums? The pope! Do many of us just have opinions on the topic of why we are here? Our own ideas on our purpose based on our own predisposed ideas, experiences and life lessons? Who is to say what is right or wrong? Should we randomly just believe everything whilst then indirectly actually believing nothing? How can I choose an idea or a religion based on my opinion of what is right or wrong; will that then not mean the ones I chose to reject I would assume to be wrong? Will this not cause divisions amongst me and those who chose to believe what I would not? What if I chose to become an extremist and forced others to accept my fundamentalist ideas and dogmas; would that cause strife and disunity amongst people and possible even war if I gained support? Would this make me happier or unhappier than before I started? Who is right? Should we just develop the attitude of ‘oh what does it matter; who cares anyway’? Or expressions like ‘who is to say what is right or wrong; who cares anyway; each to his own’? If I felt this way and had this attitude, why would I not be in jail for a violent crime, perhaps murder or rape or theft; why not? If I was to say who is right and who is wrong; what does it matter; each to his own, then why am I not either in or out of jail? What governed my moral conscience to either act or not act on my physical impulses to either do good or bad? Does that then not make me God of my own universe to govern what I deem as right and wrong according to me? Is this perhaps how people think and feel today? What a frightening thought; what if what I believe to be truth is, in fact, error and I spent my life believing it? Did I then not waste this one precious life if it is, in fact, the only one I get, believing a lie and dying in error?

      The options, the choices, the ideas. So many opinions, yet so little truth in the world today. Is this my opinion, or is this truth? It makes sense why so many have accepted science as their form of truth, as their form of religion. The dictionary says in its third article and I quote: Religion – a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion. Science is considered truth by so many, even if at times it is just conjecture or theory. Even if unproved and nothing more than a creative thought that sprouted from the mind of a highly academic individual in a territory think tank somewhere. After all, if a person with numerous degrees behind him/her and perhaps even a certain amount of fame as well comes up with an idea, we are more conditioned to believe them even if it goes unproved. Why, then, is so much of science, which is fact, brought down by parts that are not fact, but only theory, yet we are so trained to believe these theoretical parts of science through our education system, media and continuous indoctrination at universities and museums? Just turn on the TV and see how long it takes before you are bombarded with these theories in wonderfully created and designed television shows. If we were being indoctrinated and controlled by all this propaganda, who would it be and why? Science offers so much truth, but not all things of science are truth regardless of how much we are trained to believe them. For example, if I ask science why I am here, what is the purpose of

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