Living out the "why"

"A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell." - C.S. Lewis

I woke up early this morning (or night... when is it early enough to be night and not morning?) when my cell phone rang, and I was informed that we had a Red Cross message for a Soldier. Red Cross messages are ways for people back home to communicate an emergency (such as a death in the family) to Soldiers. They are never pleasant.

Now I'm sitting at my computer. Once I wake up I'm usually up for good, and it's almost time for breakfast now, so I think I'm up for the day.

But I had a strangely nice experience after I met with the Soldier in question. I walked outside, and the morning was a cool one... it really feels nice when it cools down. There was a breeze blowing, and the palm trees were silouetted against a beautiful moon surrounded by stars. I just had a moment of thanking God for allowing me to be in this place, doing His work. I feel blessed to know God, and to be able to see His greater hand at work.

My question this morning is this: are you living out the "why" of your life? You see, God has a reason for all of us to exist... yet, we move through this life, as though under anesthesia, numb to the "God-reality" around us. Most people live day to day- working to finish a list of tasks that life brings, but never asking or seeking out the Big Picture.

Our existence has meaning and purpose. C.S. Lewis also wrote: "It is only when you are asked to believe in Reason coming from non-reason that you must cry Halt. Human minds. They do not come from nowhere." Do you believe that or not? Does our consciousness, our self-awareness, our ability to love.... does it all come from nowhere? Like a lunatic in a cell, we might be tempted to scribble darkness and pretend that the light doesn't exist. The fact that we spend most of our lives ignoring the reality of God doesn't change God, rather, it changes us.

But God is. Do you believe that? Or, do you pretend that the good things of life- love, laughter, joy, peace, time with family, meaning, purpose.... do you pretend that those wonderful things somehow non-sensically have come about in this universe by accident? Or, even worse, do you say that you believe in God, but do not live in a way that shows any evidence of it?

Have you answered the "why" when it comes to your life?

One last quote from Lewis: "God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing."