Gratitude - Day 16

1 - knowing the answer to the question "Where did we come from?"
2 - knowing the answer to the question "Why are we here?"
3 - knowing the answer to the question "Where will we go after this life?"

Simple and basic answers. Then, things happen in life and when they do, we suddenly find the anchors and the depth of life in the answers to those questions. They're no longer Primary or Sunday School surface answers. They are the great doctrines of the kingdom.

We breeze through our answer to "where did we come from" until the day a child (or a grandchild) is born into our family. And then the holy reality of where that child was becomes tangible, truly real, and you feel it as knowledge instead of faith. It happened for me with the birth of each of my children. The other day, the Captain and I were talking about his feelings when Rob was born. It happened for him with the birth of each of his children. It happened again for us when Mae was born. As parents, we had the added dimension of gratitude knowing it had now happened for Brett and Juliann. Now Rachael and Rob await their first baby. The Captain and I, we know what's coming to them. That tangible sense of holiness. We are as grateful to God for the experience with holiness that awaits Rachael and Rob as we are for the new grandchild on the way.

The strength that comes from the answer to "why are we here" blesses our lives when life gets difficult. When it's no longer 'fun,' but becomes challenging. Those moments when we feel it would be easier to let go and give ourselves over to the struggle -- that is when 'the purpose of life' encourages and buoys up. Knowing the 'why' takes on new meaning as we use that knowledge to navigate our choices, to both plan and then use the roadmap we each create for our life. "Starting with the end in mind" is more than a catchphrase. Knowing "why we are here" is what gives meaning to our agency... our power of choice. When we know, really know, why we are here, our choices, our decisions, our actions, our interactions, our relationships, and our legacy all have more meaning... and therefore more potential for happiness. "Man is that he might have joy."

"Where will we go after this life?" Knowing the answer to this question gives us the perspective to see the threat of death for what it is... and for what it is not. When we know the answer to this question, the fear of death exists only on this side of the veil. I have been without my dad now for 6 1/2 years. Have I missed him? Absolutely. Do I know where he is? Absolutely. He has gone back to that realm of holiness that I know exists because my children and grandchildren brought evidence of it into my home when they were born. And when I go to where he is, he will still be my dad and I will still be his daughter. There is nothing that another's death takes from us that our own death doesn't give back to us. Everything in its proper time and in God's hands.