The value and insignificance of life
one of life's paradoxes
Thought
Is it paradoxical to say that an individual life is both something of value and yet insignificant?
At the micro level my life has value, meaning and purpose, yet when I consider the vastness of space and even the size of the world population I am quickly reminded of my obvious insignificance too.
Should I die tonight the world will not know I was gone. Life, time, and the people left living would move swiftly by as though I had never existed, and yet I do exist, not by mere circumstance or cosmic accident, but because I am the offspring of Heavenly Parents.
This thought came to me as I was driving home last night from the temple so it is still a little under-developed, yet it struck me and for a moment put many of my perceived problems into perspective. In the end I will die and no one will truly care, not because they are heartless but let’s be honest, how frequently do our deceased grandparents command our minds focus.
The goal then is to simply live and I must confess it feels sometimes like I have forgotten how to do so. Life is precious, yet I fear already at the age of just 34 that I have already squandered so much time on pointless worries and pursuits that will, in the end, be of no value in time or eternity.
Quote.
Try to exclude the possibility of suffering which the order f nature and the existence of free wills involve, and you find you have excluded life itself.
- C.S. Lewis (The Problem of Pain, p.25)