No Longer Temporary: An Introduction

Life.

What is the meaning of life?

We live, we die. From dust we were created, to dust we will return.

Why would God create us to live and die on this planet?

I’ve lived for only fourteen years on this planet. I don’t have all of the answers.

I love to go to the Oregon Coast. I love the way the water wipes away any imperfections in the sand. People may walk all over it, dig their nails into it, and shape it—but in the end, it’s temporary.

Yet the ocean remains, continually shaping the rocks and coves along the shoreline, steady and powerful.

I recently went to the Gettysburg National Cemetery. I walked through the graves and saw the tombstones that read, in big bold letters, “UNKNOWN.”

It broke my heart.

To humans, those buried beneath may be unknown, but they were known to someone. They were loved by someone. More importantly, they are known and loved by God. God knows each of us—every name, every face, every life, past and future.
He knows us in our suffering. He knows us in our failures. He knows us in our rejoicing.

Before I knew Jesus I was searching for a meaning in the chaos. I was lost. I felt forgotten. I felt like people saw me as one thing, and didn’t bother to look beyond the surface.

I recently had a brief conversation with someone on a bus. We were talking about icebergs, as most normal fourteen-year-old children do.

He told me about how the visible part of the iceberg is only ten percent of the entire thing. The other ninety sank the Titanic.

There’s so much more than meets the eye.

For the longest time, I was seen as the smart kid. Nobody really bothered to get to know me.

How much does knowledge get you in life? My mom always tells me, “dumb kids are happy.”

Is this situation not just like the Garden of Eden? Eve thirsted for knowledge and ended up with darkness.

I’m not saying intelligence is a negative thing, but it certainly does not define success. So what does? Fame? Wealth? Beauty?

Or perhaps it’s something deeper, something unseen.

Something eternal.