Why Are We Here? (Part 5)
“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths.”
~ Psalm 5:4
Greetings my fellow Americans!
Why are we here? Most of us are sharing a portion of the continent of North America as a result of a direct or ancestral desire to partake in the vision of divine and unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness upon which the United States was founded. Of what those rights are specifically constituted may vary significantly, depending on whom you ask today, but, as we explicated in previous installments of this series, the prevailing common sense of the civilized world during the era of our founding seemed to have made the declaration of such rights for every member of society much simpler, regardless of whether the readers thereof were in agreement.
So, what was the original premise for these rights, and why were there European colonists on the American continent in the first place? This was codified by the Mayflower Compact, ascribed by those of the first Plymouth Colony who had fled religious persecution under the British King James in 1620 (emphasis mine):
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience.
Those colonists sought freedom to express their Christianity without fear of government reprisal; countless others followed them in similar pursuit. As devout Christians, they knew why they truly existed at all, longed for the freedom to live in alignment and accordance with that knowledge, and were willing to risk their lives in what was then a very long and perilous journey by sailed ship to the New World.
And what did those earliest of Americans know of their existence, and of what of that purpose have we lost sight in our “modern progressiveness?” Why are we really here?
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” ~ Mark 10:45 (ESV)
This ultimate purpose transcends the United States, especially if you believe in a Creator, and even more so if you are a follower of Jesus Christ; in this context, Why are we here? may also be read as Why do we exist? or Why have we been given life? Jesus of Nazareth synopsizes the two greatest commandments thusly (emphasis mine):
‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.” ~ Mark 12:30-31 (ESV)
In the first of these, Jesus is quoting directly from Moses’ Pentateuch with Deuteronomy 6:5; in the second, he beautifully summarizes the last seven of the Ten Commandments into a general purpose for being with each other as humans. Intrinsic to, and implied in, both is the notion of lifelong service: service to God, and service to each other. Faithfully serving God further implies faithfully serving one another, and vice versa.
Those who risked their lives to sail to the American continent from Europe sought the freedom to comply with these commandments—to serve their Lord and one another—without encumbrance nor mandate from government. Many who followed them into the New World of the Americas were likewise driven by the faith and humility of service. Like all groups of fallen souls prior and since, theirs was not a perfect society, but by the humbling influence of their shared ultimate purpose they were able to publicly declare, and eventually fight and die for, what they believed, and to establish a bastion of relative liberty that would last for centuries.
The ultimate purpose for our existence is no different than it was for those early American settlers, nor for any other human to ever have roamed this planet. What has only changed is our shared belief in, and commitment to, pursuing it. We’ve generally mistaken freedom and liberty for unbridled license to do whatever we want when we want, and that personal wealth, ease of life and comfort are the ultimate goals of earthly life, even if that was accomplished by way of some form or forms of service during one’s life. As our true ultimate purpose becomes increasingly obfuscated (i.e., as we continue to fall further away from God and the divine purpose for which America came to be), we are also losing our will to fight and die to preserve the environment which has enabled our rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in the manners of our own choosing, and the notion that these are unalienable.
Our personal salvation, and the true greatness of America, lie in our ability to regain our shared ultimate purpose for being. Why are we here? is a question we must be able to coherently, cohesively and cogently answer.
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