The Good Life

What is the meaning of life? Why are my here? What are my born to do?

The search for the true meaning of life often leads us to asking a lot of questions. We literarily live through life asking questions. In this piece, I hope to be able to chronicle what my search has led me to. I hope I can provoke some thoughts inside of your soul. Tarry along. My conclusions are intended to be as unreligious as much as right.

 

 

Let me start by stating my conviction on the identity of the human nature. It is true that discovery is the beginning of enlightenment and enlightenment hardly comes without a clear cut insight into the realm of composition. There was a time when it was a general fact that the earth was flat. This theory lasted for decades until men dared to explore. Then a new truth was established that the earth is indeed spherical. Well, I believe that man is SPIRIT with a SOUL living in a BODY. Three compartments with unique configurations. I believe that this understanding is instructive in the scheme of things.

 

 

When I was young, I did ask myself and the elders a couple of times questions they themselves couldn't answer. Questions like How did the earth come to be? Who is God? Who created HIM? I was often met with stern disposition and dissuading voices. Boy, don't ask these questions. I have discovered that these questions even though most people stop asking never quite disappear. This is in the light of various theories that claim to have solved the quizzing questions. One of such theories called the Big Bang theory is a scientific explanation that puts forward the explanation that the earth was formed from the combustion of gases. This theory has so many inherent flaws which I need not begin to highlight. There is nothing that stops you and I from asking God to reveal himself.

 

 

There are many other theories but all of them seem to have fundamental flaws. They don't just add up. There is a theory however that suggests the existence of a supreme being. This theory interestingly seems to be the most popular. This is the base of most religions in the world today. Most religions that I am aware of boast of the power of a supreme being whose creative ability is responsible for the appearance and disappearance of everything. This is interesting. There is of course the distinguished class of atheists. This group asserts the absence of God. They say that man is his own God. In the words of the bible, only fools will doubt the existence of God. We have a multitude of signs that point to His sovereignty.


This world is framed around various inexhaustible philosophies. Cultural practices vary from place to place. The East block versus West bloc and the Neutral.  The Good versus the Bad and the Ugly. The Rich and the Poor and of course the Middle Class. In between the extremes are sometimes mid points. In these rare instances, we get to realize that there seems to be room for everybody. Today, there are indomitable layers of personas and identities. Every idea is clamoring for recognition. It goes without saying that our world has become gregariously plural. Abomination has found very habitable spots in the very fabric of our societies.


Poverty (material lack) in the world remains a ravaging threat to global peace. The pockets of crisis (financial and otherwise) continue to point to the age-long weakness of man. Insatiable greed continues to soar in the low, middle and high places. The Bulls and the Bears gets paid but the Pigs get slaughtered (The Rogue Trader). The inordinate circumvention of wealth by the forces of financial innovation only reveals for the umpteenth time the terrible and beastial nature of the human race. The best of us has failed. The center can no longer hold. Things fall apart (Chinua Achebe).


In the midst of the gross chaos, the pursuit continues. Man is still searching. Of an immutable truth, ALL of us are in pursuit of something. It appears that our many creations won’t fill the emptiness of our poor souls. Heaven (an eternal abode) appears to be a major motivation for many. I heard that the promise of celestial bliss where a Jihadist will be rewarded with 10 virgins is a main appeal for suicide missionaries. Isn’t it interesting that even Heaven is causing problems here on earth. In any case, the vacuum remains unfilled. Some have even explored abominable routes to fill the vacuum. Where the institution of marriage has failed many, a number have converted what is the natural use for Men to Women. All of these in the name of liberty and freedom. Who will blame one who is exercising his natural right? Man is a free moral agent. However, the truth remains that God has an opinion in all matters. Things will never fill the vacuum in our lives. Man is SPIRIT. He has a SOUL. He lives in a BODY. To subject our spiritual identity to the demands of the flesh is an indication of identity crisis. It was not so in the beginning.


Humanity’s search for bliss has remained shrouded in a thick mystery. Many of us cannot even describe what it is. For the ones that seem to be living it, they are able to describe the sense of fulfillment they derive. Abraham Maslow theory of needs describes Self Actualization as the highest need of man. At this level, what gives us utmost pleasure is serving others. Many are closer to their grave before they discover that this is the real deal.


So what is The Good Life Really?

 

I must warn you that this is not religion. This same concept has been defined by many. Yet, there remains a cloud of mystery about it. The Good Life is a promise. It is a journey. It is the essential purpose of life. Controversial as it sounds, it is not even about hurriedly going to Heaven. It’s about replicating the realities of heaven here on the planet. It’s about the Kingdom Lifestyle. There is a longing in the soul of every human. It is beyond the domesticated struggles of paying bills. It’s not about filling our life with material things. What motivates us is far beyond just getting by. We all really want our lives to count for something eternal. Things will never fill the vacuum in our lives. Beware of the barrenness of a busy life.


Words can’t sufficiently articulate it but The Good Life is ultimately not about us. Everyone of us long for The Good Life. It is intangible yet we hold dearly unto it. It is not a status. It is a gut feeling that we get in being complete. It’s about advancing humanity. It’s about serving others. What you get is that you escape the Rat Race which is a debased status that no human should experience.


It’s a constellation of principles that is wrapped up in seeking unapologetically the enthronement of the kingdom lifestyle. The Kingdom lifestyle is a crazy idea based on a totally counter-intuitive approach to living. It’s about rejecting the vanity propositions of logic and embracing a superior order of creation. Under this regime, Kingdom Citizens embrace the timeless virtue of inspired Love. Love here means the constellation of other commandments outside which there is no law. The Good Life has implication for the entire creation including our industries and enterprise (big or small). Its ideals challenge the very things we have come to believe in all sectors. The Kingdom order of living is about God’s agenda to extend His dominion to an outpost. The earth.

 

 

How to achieve The Good Life?

To conclude this piece, let me speak to a constituency that has the divine mandate of the Kingdom philosophy. Identity crisis is the greatest crisis. Talking of Identity crisis, the Church has reduced herself to a mere religious sect. This is an aberration to God's kingdom mandate. Institutional Christianity has failed God in the way we parade ourselves as bunch of religious entities. JESUS was not crucified because of the miracles he performed nor the crusades HE championed. He was crucified based on HIS declaration as a KING. I dare to say it was a political trial and not a religious trial. Christianity is not a religion.

 

 

Those who understand legal jurispudence will enlighten you that the charge against JESUS was a case of treason. This changes everything. Christianity is about the KINGDOM which is a system of government based on kingdom principles. The church (Ekklesia, also meaning STATE) is God's platform for rulership. We are citizens of God's kingdom. Our constitution is the word of God. The Holy Spirit is the Governor. We only get to achieve the promise of The Good Life when we align ourselves with the original mandate of God. Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. I encourage you to begin your search by embracing the extravagant love which was showered on you by HIM. There is a piece of God in you.


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