 Life is nothing if not challenging.
Some struggle from the very beginning till the very end - grappling and wrestling with troubles and trials few of us ever experience.
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And some seem to have it easy. Finances, romance, career, family, fun; everything seems to fall into place for them.
Most of us are somewhere in between these two extremes. We struggle from time to time with difficulties. We bear up under our share of suffering. And we partake in our share of happiness as well.
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But have you ever wondered - even when life is at its best - if this is all there is?
Certainly, when we compare our lot to many in the world, we can feel as though life is good. But, still, many of us hear a small voice inside - asking if life offers nothing more than transitory happiness. People have asked these questions since humanity began asking questions!
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So what is the answer? Is this all there is? Is our fate to face vastness of our cosmos with the knowledge that our span of a few decades on a miniscule rock (third from the sun!) is all that there will be for us - and that we will then pass into non-existence and be quickly forgotten by those who continue on after we are gone?
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Pascal once said that "being unable to cure death, wretchedness and ignorance, men have decided, in order to be happy, not to think about such things." And he's really right, isn't he?
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Don't we spend our lives trying to ignore the fact that life for each of us is going to end - and that we are helpless in the face of this certain fate? Isn't this why so many of us fill our calendars with activities and vacations and diversions - just to avoid having to face our own mortality?
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And, truly, if this life is all that there is, Bertrand Russell was right - we must build our lives on the solid bedrock of unrelenting despair.
But throughout history, great and simple minds alike have decided that this is not right. That there is more to life than living and dying - more than just trying to make it through the day.
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For Christians, life is a journey. And it doesn't end six feet under. Life's struggles and suffering can be faced, if not with courage, then at least with hope. Hope that wrongs will be righted; that mercy will be given to the weak and justice to the defeated and oppressed.
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The Christian faces life - with whatever happiness or sorrow it might bring - with the knowledge and faith that something better is waiting.
Have you heard that voice inside? Do you, in the dark hours of night, wonder about the futility of it all? You're not alone. And we believe that Jesus Christ holds the answer to your question.
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