What are 'The Secrets of the Universe'?
There are two questions that I think would probably top most lists when it comes to the knowledge most humans desire: "What is my purpose in life?" and "What happens after I die?" The second question is one that causes considerable tension, and anyone alive who says they have the answer is either guessing, selling you something, or basing their answer on tradition handed down through the ages. Whichever of those devices one is using, there is no tangible proof the answer is a valid one. The most common device used to judge what happens after death is religious faith, and though I possess it, I am sober enough to know that even if the tradition I adhere to is over 1500 years old, I can’t be sure where that information originated from. Hence, you will never see me arguing or gloating about how my tradition trumps yours. Unless you possess the ability to time travel, you have taken it on faith that the people who transferred this knowledge down through the ages received it from a primary source who was inerrant. And anyone making the argument that one’s tradition is correct because it is the oldest would have to bow to any number of traditions in which human sacrifice was central. Age is not an argument. All that matters is that we all die, and it is a mystery as to what comes next.
How about the question of "what is my purpose in life?" In my view, this is the ultimate mystery because while it can’t be known or proven as a fact, it can be experienced. One can perform actions in which they excel that appear to serve a purpose. But what is this "purpose" exactly? The answer to that question will obviously vary greatly. Some would say that if they succeed in raising their children in an environment conducive to safety and the children grow up to be orderly and productive adults, their purpose has been met. Others may mention service to their fellow man through innovation of various sorts or even military service as their purpose. The kind of metaphysical or existential feeling one has towards what they do and how they function is a mystery, but it can be felt on a level where satisfaction in one's "true purpose" can be attained. While whatever purpose one feels and acts upon is individual to them, it is rare that this purpose doesn’t somehow touch the lives of others. I look upon it as the difference between riches and reputation (and will leave you to ponder my meaning in comparing the two).
However one chooses to answer the two questions I presented, I view how they are answered in terms of how orderly a society will be. One’s opinion on what happens when they breathe their last tends to inform how they live their lives. I concede that some people are genetically hardwired to order and civility, but the examples of the kind of chaos experienced in societies where religious faith is suppressed—and we need not look back centuries or millennia—are plentiful. But "purpose" and "the meaning of life" are also factors in how civilizations not only thrive but also survive. I believe we are all called to be servants, especially when it comes to our families. But have we lost the idea of service to one another? Has the idea of service been hijacked by professional "activists" who seek to derail you from caring for those closest to you, as well as those who share your values, and toward a manufactured "oppressed minority" that justifies the activist’s existence? All the while derailing you from your purpose? I have concluded that finding your purpose in life and starting with those closest to you is the main path to take if we are to find our way back to order and out of chaos.
On the question of what happens when we die, I totally agree. While I have faith I'm not fool enough to believe that I have any proof to point to my own intrinsic belief. But when crazy atheists raise the question of "well what if your faith/religion isn't even true?" As if this will change something about me. My answer is always that even if it isn't true, I'd rather simply behave and conduct my life as though it were because it gives one a foundation for a good life both intrinsically and extrinsically.
Service to others, especially when we talk of a wife serving her husband (or at least this is where I notice it the most) has been morphed to be seen in many circles as a sign of weakness or vulnerability. It's preposterous. I remember at a family gathering a few years ago chatting with my cousins wife and at one point she says "no I don't do his laundry, I'm not his slave." It was so weird, I wasn't even sure what to say. But a part of me felt bad for her that this was her paradigm. While I don't enjoy laundry in and of itself, I am happy to do things to help my husband keep our house and life going. He does plenty to serve me, what kind of spouse would I be if I chose not to reciprocate that? After all when one takes marriage vows (if taken seriously, but that is a whole different conversation) they are based on service to one another in all of lifes unpredictable situations; sickness/health, wealth/privation, etc. Life is meant to be lived with and for one another, there is no way to do that if you maintain complete separate identities from each other and from your relationship, to me that's literally the opposite of marriage. Feminism sought to insert weakness into the idea of caring for and serving your husband rather than promoting the idea that there is love in service. It's disgusting.
I'm thankful I had such strong examples in my parents taking care of both each other and other family members to see this indeed was both the purpose and the connective tissue of a strong family.
A good man once said to me; if you’re a Christian man, let your family be your mission field. What does it say about our Christianity if we’re prancing around Brazil building shacks for poor people, patting one another on the back and feeling in the Jesus zone, while our kids are back home jerking off to gay cartoon porn and watching Vaush?