The Meaning of Life

I am not going to presume that I have the answer. But I do have the answer that is right for me. I did not think of it myself, but rather, was inspired by a priest at an opening school mass where I used to teach. The message resonated completely within me, and at last, I no longer had to dwell on this particular topic.

The meaning of life probably never enters some people's minds. Perhaps existance on this planet has no real meaning. Evolution caused the combination of Carbon and Oxygen, and ta-da! Life is.
For other people, life is intertwined with religion or spirituality. The meaning of life to them is whatever the church says for them to believe...maybe it is spreading the word, converting others to their way of believing, or even bigger, getting ready for heaven.

My favorite Bible verse is "He who loveth not knoweth not God, for God is Love." I also happen to believe that God is everywhere and loves everyone. This matters in my explanation of the meaning of life because it centers around love.

Wait...what? That's it! The meaning of life is knowing I have loved during my time here, as well as knowing that I was truly loved in return. Too simple?

Love comes in many forms. It's the love we have for our parents, often starting as a special love for our mothers who nurture us and feed us even before we are born. It's a love that never leaves us, if we are lucky, even when our parents are long gone. I used to cry at night as a girl, worried that my father might die. When he actually did die, too young as a man still in his 60s, I was devastated. I will never get over the loss of my father, but yet, I still have love for him. Isn't this really amazing? I can love someone who isn't even alive!

I remember falling in love with someone for the first time. It took some time for me to realize that was what it was. I wanted to be sure it wasn't just hormones, or lust, or wanting to be like everyone else, but when it lingered and grew, I knew I truly loved him. I dreamt of him, my every teenaged conversation was about him, and I couldn't wait to see him even through one high school class at a time. I'd get a hall pass to the restroom and saunter by his classroom, just to have a quick look and a smile from this boy I was crazy about.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, a good friend told me, "There are two things no one can ever really tell you about having a baby. One, it really hurts. You can't imagine the pain you will experience when you have this baby. Luckily, the pain goes away not long after, or no one would have more than one baby! Two, you have thought you have loved before. But no love compares to the love you will have when you see your baby for the very first time. It is the kind of love you would kill someone about." She was absolutely right! It did hurt, more than my dry socket after my wisdom teeth were pulled. And I fell in love with that little baby in a way that cannot compare to any other feeling I have ever had. Then I was blessed with a son, and I had the very same love for him in the very same way. There is no limit to the love we can have.

People use the word love in so many ways, and each version of love really means something completely different. I love my cat. I love my partner. I love ice cream. I love my favorite movie. I love to sleep. Aren't they all different? And then we use the expression, "Making Love." Which often has nothing to do with love in the first place, does it? Can we make love? I wish we could. Every girl with a skin problem left alone on prom night eating her tube of cookie dough in front of the TV with her ear glued to the telephone rants of other lonesome and leftout no-beauty queens wishes there was a way to make love.

Love also dies. How does this happen? How can I have love, real love for someone, and then one day, realize I don't have that love anymore? And no matter how hard I try, I just cannot feel the same way. Where does love go?

So. Back to the meaning of life. I am blessed with having been in reciprocated love more than once in my life. I am loved still today, and I love in return. My children know they are loved, which was my number one vow when my children were born. And, most days, my children love me too. My cats love me, especially the big fat male who knows I will feed him and pet him every day. There are others, family and friends mainly, who also love me. There are many people long gone from this earth who loved me as well. There are people I never see who may still love me, just as I love them.

I believe on my last day, I will not be afraid. I will be able to go to my Maker, having been with Him all along after all, in the love that I have had in my life all of my days. God is love.