A SEARCH FOR MEANING

What you are about to read is my own particular view and experience of life. It is neither a scientific, theological or philosophical thesis. It might sound silly, maybe shocking. Either way, this discussion does not intent to convince anyone to agree with it. The only outcome hoped for from the audience reading is, reflection and maybe analysis or constructive criticism of the content. You may or may not identify yourself with the context and may or may not, gather some insights from it. Any response is a positive response, if only laughter.

A SEARCH FOR MEANING

Chaos. That´s what we have been living in. Having said that, chaos might be seen differently from an individual perspective. Maybe I have only noticed the existence of chaos in my adult years. When I was younger, my worries were which party to attend or which new pair of trainers to buy. Whilst studying at university, I began to acknowledge and comprehend the many brutal facts in history: that nations and cultures being desolated often only considered chaos at that moment in time. Both before and after Christ, history has been filled with wars causing sorrow and the flow of blood; some in name of God; some in the name of nations; some in the name of ideologies, and so on. There are always named and hidden motives that lie behind wars, such as obscure conspiracies, which the majority of people may see as real in their ignorance. Nevertheless, chaos still dwells among us in its many forms, endlessly serving as a socially dysfunctioning factor.

Chaos and its influential forces intervene within our lives. Many of us have become sceptical and cynical of others, arguably even more of ourselves. Barriers have been built between us and hope: worries. Many of us have been living in the past to avoid dealing with present, which can generate depression; many more struggle with the speed of life today, generating stress; others live only for the future, generating more anxiety. We wonder what sort of energy, force or destiny has driven us through life. Life flows: in the morning we prepare for work not even knowing for sure if we will finish our journey. When we are shopping we no longer even wonder if the suppliers have delivered essential goods; too busy to send a message or to call a friend or family member, assuming they will always be there for us. Many of these events have passed unnoticed, unquestioned even; just lived.

To have hope, you must be a believer. A life without hope is a life without purpose, motivation or any real reason to move forward. Hope is what gets people through life. I would say even atheists who do not believe in God´s existence have some sort of motivating belief. There are religious people who worship God or gods, others choose to be part of a cult or are more connected with nature; each has a different energy source that somehow brings fulfilment and meaning to their lives. There are those who do not believe or disbelieve in God but get along with their lives in some kind of functional way. Others simply cannot be bothered. I cannot imagine a life without God. I see the force of God everywhere and within everything. My faith in something that builds hope and helps me to fight my everyday battles. I believe that faith helps us to find our purpose in life and make the most of it. So many people never find it, or when they do, know what to do with it. There is no rule or recipe, but hopefully you might connect with guidance that is compatible with your own way of thinking.

I believe that a lack of spirituality in society has increased sadness in people´s lives. Spirituality is not a religion, but the connection with what I call "The Superior Energy". Religion, since the beginning of times has been known to destroy the spiritual connection between the believer and the source of their belief. Whatever this spirituality may be, finding a way that allows it to blossom is a path which brings guidance to connect with The Superior Energy. This connection is also a way to connect with our own selves and our surroundings. It is through spirituality that we might find answers for many of our questions and doubts; to find enlightenment for our fears and insecurities; emotional strength to deal with the stresses of life. Many people would say that science gives us all the support we need as an alternative to spirituality. There can be no denying the importance of science; without it, information would neither exist nor be accessible and we would be living inside an endless jigsaw puzzle. But who said spirituality and science cannot get along?

Spirituality is different from religiosity. Whilst religiosity has its limitations and its "incontestable truth", spirituality is unlimited and is a continuing experience to explore the truth. Religion offers the assurance that there is only one truth, related to "known truths"; spirituality develops from within the truth of life´s experiences. I believe that spirituality is the real connection between The Superior Energy and those who believe, even worship. Religion is one of many ways to seek guidance but in my view, it has been an immensely powerful controlling social system. If religion were taught according to its fundamental purpose, such as enlightening people´s lives through the Divine, I personally believe that we would be seeing less misery in our world. That is why many "religious" people miss out on the real fulfilment of connecting with The Superior Energy. From now on, I shall call The Superior Energy "God" in accordance with my own beliefs.

One cannot engage with religious teachings without questioning them; in particular when it comes to the effect religion has had on humankind. You have to make an effort to develop your own spirituality. Out there are many channels that we may find to connect ourselves with God. We must be willing to connect. Religion was a key factor in the way my parents brought me up. Without their guidance, I may never have made the connection with God and I shall be forever grateful to them. Growing up as part of a religious community, I studied the Sacred Bible and its commandments and attended church services regularly. Then, like any other person who survived their teenage years, I realised: "I think, therefore I am." So now I use my internal filters and my intelligence. The uncertainties, achievements, challenges, joys, failures and deceptions I have worked through have been of paramount importance in driving me towards my own spiritual growth.

Although I have been a Christian for all my life, I reached a point when I realised that I had not completely read the Sacred Bible. So, I decided to read it from cover to cover. I had reached a period in my life when I was questioning life´s meaning and purpose. At the same time, I was trying to make sense of all the nonsense I had read and heard about religion and God. The knowledge I gained by reading the Sacred Bible has allowed me to discuss it more intelligently and realise how revealing and fascinating it is. It continues to amaze me how people criticise the Sacred Bible even though they have not read it. I believe that for many of us, scepticism of dealing with the unknown has become an obstacle which can impede our evolutionary process. People often tend to take what they believe in as the ultimate truth and impose it on others without considering their beliefs. Discussion and reflection are essential actions in a civilised society.

There can be enormous criticism of those who believe in Jesus Christ; in his journey and purpose on earth. Those who criticise may find Jesus Christ´s life absurd and unbelievable: a life filled with magic, miracles and extraordinary events. Yet at the same time these people are looking for magic, miracles, superheroes and extraordinary events to happen. Is this not a contradiction, hypocrisy even? Does the source of one's faith have to embrace something which has or has not been proven? For some people, facts and events in life may involve coincidence or luck, whist others call these blessings and purposes. When it comes to tragedies in life, non-believers turn into believers blaming God for everything negative using a common cliché: "If God exists, why does God allow these things to happen?" It seems that people have forgotten that they are the decision makers through what is called "free will". Good and evil are two facets of our own nature. In God´s eyes sin has no weight, as there is no scale to measure sins. Instead sins all have different consequences.

In the sphere of faith, everyone has the right to believe and disbelieve in anything or everything they want. Having said that, I believe that we also must respect others´ beliefs and the many different ways of living. Life is diverse in all its forms and bounds. Logically, many people feel they can only believe in something that they have experienced. Some people connect with what they perceive as universal forms of energy: crystal power, matter, physics, extra-terrestrial beings and so on. As a Christian, I believe in Jesus Christ. I have chosen Him as my superhero. I have chosen to believe in a divine person who lived on earth in flesh, even though there is little or no trace of His physical existence. I believe in His teachings and miracles. I believe in His promise to rescue the sinners (actors) from their sins (actions) and bring them eternal life. I believe in His resurrection. I believe in His supernatural powers. I believe in the blessing of life that I experience with God as my Guide, Mentor and Saviour. Above all, I believe in His two simple and clear commandments that bring meaning to life:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind - Love your neighbour as yourself." (Matthew 22:36-40).

There is a myth about being a Christian that says our lives are supposed to be easier and better than those who are not Christians. Funnily enough, there is not a single reference to that in the Sacred Bible or in any other Christian teachings. On the contrary: life as a Christian comes with duties as well. Non-believers raise the question of God´s existence: "If God really does exist and is the creator of all, why does God not make everything run smoothly and perfectly?" Again, this relates to faith and life experiences. No one knows God´s plans; we can only believe in God's promises. Clearly, we are not living in a fair world. Society, "in partnership" with religion has twisted God´s image and principles across history in order to satisfy its own agendas. I do not blame the non-believers for their way of thinking; in order to criticise something, you must first acknowledge it then research it then reflect and discuss. This is the accepted way to learn, comprehend and discuss an issue, whatever it may be. When it comes to spirituality, there are no formulas, rules, theories or laws, only your own personal life experiences with a Superior Energy.

There is nothing more ambitious in life than to develop your own spirituality: the connection between life and the universe; The Superior Energy; The Creator of All Things. Even for non-believers, that ambition may still be present. Connectivity channels must be kept open to life and all its fascinating mysteries. We may only have one life, but it is a unique and individual experience. It is also what we make of it depending on our own choices, through our own free will. Concepts of good and bad might vary according to each individual and may be dependent on other influencing forces such as character, culture, belief, ethnicity, even geography. Even though these ideas are debatable, differences exist and we are responsible each time we take a personal view. Our views are outcomes of all consequences of our actions. I believe that God allows us to choose and deal with the results on our own. At the same time, God is always beside us. It is up to us how we handle the challenges as well as the blessings. It does not mean that we need to do so alone.

I am not a superhero, but I believe in one. My experience with God has shown me that I am not alone in this world. My Superhero lets me choose for myself. God guides me with insights to enlighten me: my own thoughts, through other people, situations, places and experiences. However, at the end of each day, they are still my choices; mine and mine alone. Through my mistakes and successes, I carry on living a fulfilled life in every sense. Maybe I am a fortunate person, with my ordinary life and my ordinary problems. It could be different if I did not have shelter, clothing, health, love, food, friends, education and opportunities; very different. I thank God that I am a fortunate person. I believe that I have empathy and understand how life can be difficult for many people, sometimes beyond my own comprehension. I still believe that once you have a superhero beside you, nothing is impossible and everything is achievable, no matter how hard it may feel.

My spirituality has guided me through fantastic life experiences and has given me hope and faith to prepare myself for what lies beyond this life. I have no clue what it will be, where, and how. I just believe. Physical death is for many people the end; the most feared part of life. In fact, it is the beginning of another life. I can comprehend how that must terrify those souls who have not developed their spirituality. What do they have to hope for? For me it is simple: I believe in the afterlife as the existence of God has been proven in my current one. God is present everywhere I go; in everything I see, hear, smell, taste and imagine; God is here and there; God is everywhere. I once questioned God´s existence as there is so much misery in this world. I even tried to deny God's existence. Then I wondered about God´s creatures and creations, which I do not believe appeared as a result of evolution: randomly, with no purpose other than to exist. The perfection of all living things is unbelievably amazing: the human body, a perfect machine; sunrise and sunset; flora and fauna; planets; galaxies; and so on. They must all have a reason behind their existence: a reason beyond science and religious teachings.

I do not believe in spiritual evolution, but in developing a closer relationship with God. Developing this relationship has changed the way I see life, others, our surroundings, myself even. It has helped me to deal with life and its complexities, accepting things that I cannot change and changing things I can. It makes me curious about why and how we human beings have developed socially, intellectually, professionally, personally, and so on. There must be some purpose behind all of that. I am still searching for it; I might find it, I might not but it is undeniable for me that it is the journey is that really counts. At the start or our journey, we are born alone. Even if you are a twin, one comes first then the other. And we end life alone. Despite that, I came from somewhere, somehow, for some reason. One day, we will leave this life for another one, somewhere, somehow, for another reason. But the beauty of it all is that although the journey is that of one being, we are not alone. This odyssey we call life!

Leandro Bernardes, 2021.