Hello Everyone! Welcome to the Seeking in the Chaos Podcast. My name is Barney and I am a sculptor and not a certified Theologian. This podcast is the collaborative effort of a few friends to help those who are seeking for God. Many are confused with religious systems. Some have been hurt by either religious systems, political systems or societal norms. We have all been disillusioned with the world and these systems. Some might call themselves spiritual and not religious! Our hope, through this podcast, is to present our faith and hope to those who call themselves Seekers.
In the last 2 episodes, we talked about how every religious system believes in an afterlife. Everyone will have to go through a Judgement to decide what afterlife we get! However, we all struggle with someone judging us! That was episode 2. In episode 3 we talked about how we all ended up in this sticky situation that requires a Judgement! I highly recommend that you listen to those episodes. We will keep referring to these over time!
We hope to have an Honest Evaluation of our lives! Not in the way that you think. This might make you uncomfortable as though someone is judging you!
What are we preparing for?
All of us are in some sort of a hurry! We are all trying to get something done, accomplish something so that something good will be there in the future! We all have goals in life that we are working towards. We have ambitions. We would love to do some great things on this earth so that our legacy can be established and we can, somehow, be remembered! In all of this, we are striving to get some things. Let’s take this simple aspect and evaluate our life over the ages!
Some people say that the average lifespan of a human is 80 years. A singer/poet has mentioned this line in the Bible:
Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Let’s take 80 as the magical or dreaded number! One fine day, I was born! How much does a 1 year old baby have? Nothing! I will, however, get what I need by my loving parents! At this stage, it is mostly milk! By now, 1.25% of my life is over!
Let’s fast forward to 5 years old, how much do I possess till now? Some toys, cute sweaters and skull caps. My desires would be to be the center of attention, go out sightseeing, but at all costs – no daycare or kindergarten!! Terrible 2s have passed by, but I still throw a few more tantrums because I want more toys. I want my way in life. The school system has started and I, mostly, am not good at it! By now 6.25% of my life has passed by!
Let’s zoom to 18!! Where did the years go? We mostly want to forget the awkward years of the past. We dislike our past possessions! We may dislike our parents. By now, an “If only…” thought process has set in. “If only I could have that bike…If only I could be selected…If only Dad would cooperate….life would be awesome!” . Towards 18, we have started making plans for the future! We have a job and salary target! This is part of the “if only…” thinking. At this point, 22.5% of our life has passed by! We are oblivious to this part. We have no thought of death yet in our lives! It’s almost as if we are going to live forever!
Some years go by and we are now 22 years old! For many, the time of academics and college is finally and thankfully over! Some might go back in for further education. This is all so that we can be better equipped to get that ideal job and salary target! We are still arguing with our parents over things that we would like to have! However, we assume that this conflict or struggle is about to end. Freedom is coming! One of these days, we will get that job! By now, 27.5% of our life is over! No big deal! However, there is a great fear of the future! What if I fail and don’t get that job or salary? What if there is a recession?
If everything goes well, we will get a job. It may not be ideal at first, but we eventually make it our own! Some become lawyers, doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs. While some struggle with low paying jobs! You have some possessions. All till we turn 60!
By now, we have had credentials, health, beauty, a family of our own, cars, bikes, houses, money, credit cards, loans, mortgage, etc. We, most likely, are repeating the cycle of strife with our own kids! Things were going well! At 60 years old, 75% of our lives has passed by! Wow!
We may be satisfied for a bit. But then comes retirement! No one seems to want us! They want our money! We complain and argue about how things are not like how they used to be in the past. We complain about politics, children, and society. Some may struggle with the concept of God and religion! This goes on till 75!
By 75, 93.75% of life is over! Remember that we are assuming that we are going to live till 80! We are worried about legacy! We are worried about the future of our children. However, that nagging thought in the past about death hasn’t gone away. It has become real! We may feel that we have distracted ourselves with work and other things to avoid thinking about death!
By 75, we realize that we have lost, or are in the process of losing all that we have worked for, bought, stored, saved, cherished and nourished! Everything is going to be taken away! Our health and looks are gone! The money is all in the hands of children! If they have been good and wise, we will be taken care of! Goodbye to that fancy car and our licence too! Goodbye to that hair line too!
At 75, superheroes become patients! We need help! We are dependent on others and the systems of society! A short visit to the hospital can wipe out all our savings and even max out our insurance! Things weren’t so expensive when we were working! How did things go out of hand? People don’t seem to agree with us! They accuse us of not being open minded and holding on to the past! We can no longer meet friends that easily! Some may have passed away! Maybe our spouses are around! Maybe we are divorced! Maybe we are the only ones who are still alive! Life is filled with concerns of going to the bathroom, taking medicines, getting help to get into a wheelchair!
We reach 80! And so one day, sweet release! We die! 100% of our life is done! Maybe, there is a gravestone with our name on it! Maybe people came to our funeral! But that’s all something we cannot see or perceive now!
Let’s take a look at our report card! Since we were born, our parents and society has been teaching and preparing us for the future! We get an education! Let’s say that it all adds up to 25 years of our life! That’s about 32% of our lives! We’ve struggled and argued and fought so that we get a good life in the future!
Then we get our shot! We work until we retire! Assuming retirement at 60, we work for about 38 years! That’s about 48% of our lives! Do you think that’s a good trade? Struggle for 32% so that we can get 48% to be peaceful and purposeful?
Then comes old age! We struggle again! We have a love hate relationship with this concept! That’s another 20 years! That’s almost all of the time we spent educating ourselves! If we were to group together all these years of struggle, that would be around 50 years of struggle and hopefully 38 years of getting what we desire! 50 years is 63% of our 80 year life!
Let’s compare: 48% of a desired life versus 63% of undesirable struggles, arguments, difficulties and not much ability to control your life! Is this a good trade? This is the human reality! Some may have things slightly better or worse. This is the formula that most of us follow!
So now, let me ask you! What are you preparing for? Is it all for this earthly life? In the 2nd episode, we talked about different belief systems. Let’s talk about the systems that have no rebirth on earth. There is an afterlife, either the good place or the bad place! This is supposed to be eternal, never ending! Or do you believe that we all just become dust or petrol in someone else’s car?
According to the Christian belief, this earthly life of 80 years is small compared to eternity! This may be difficult to comprehend.
So let’s limit eternity to 80 trillion years. There are 12 zeros in a trillion! So that makes it 13 zeros after the number 8! Let’s calculate the percentage!
80 divided by 80 trillion multiplied by 100. That comes to 0.0000…that’s 10 zeros followed by the number 1. That’s the percentage! In India, do we even get back change in paise? There are no more 1 paise, 25 paise, let alone even 50 paise coins in circulation! It is just rounded off or called negligible! The percentage of our earthly life compared to 80 trillion is 1×10-10 %! That’s really small!
Let me ask you again! What are you preparing for? To gain happiness 50% of our lives we prepare for 35% of it. What are you doing to prepare for the afterlife? What we do in just 1×10-10% determines what happens for ETERNITY! That’s serious!
With this small percentage of 1×10-10, the Judge is going to put us either in heaven or hell! Isn’t that important enough for us to prepare for? Who are you going to depend on for that?
We understand that this is all going to be quite difficult to deal with. However, with the little time that we all have; think about this! Questions will come up and some objections too! Do visit a church nearby with those questions or send them to us by email and we will get back to you. We will even get help from Bible scholars to help with the answers if needed. But don’t let this pass you by! Christmas is coming! Is this just a fad? A commercial holiday? Or is this meant to give eternal hope, that can last beyond 80 trillion years?
That’s what we hope to cover in the next episode! See you there! Thank you for listening to the Seeking in the Chaos Podcast!
Leave a Reply