Do You Love Life?

"Let me see the light." These are the words that the Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi reportedly uttered to those attending to him just before his death. The words suggest man's desperate attachment to life, represented by light.

Attachment to life is a precious impulse that moves most individuals to avoid dangers and to do all they can to keep living. In this, man is not greatly different from the animals, which have a strong survival instinct.

But what kind of life is truly worthy of being lived and loved? It is not mere physiological existence-just breathing and moving. Nor does general satisfaction come from a get-as-much-out-of-life-as-possible approach. the Epicurean philosophy, "let us eat and drink, for tomorrow were are to die," has not brought contentment to people for the most part. (1Corinthians 15:32) While man certainly has a number of basic material needs, he also has cultural and social interests, not to mention spiritual needs, tied to faith in a Supreme Being. Sadly, hundreds of millions, if not billions, of people enjoy little more than mere existence because of miserable social and environmental conditions in many areas of the globe. Any who limit themselves primarily to satisfying their physical needs-eating, drinking, having possessions, or gratifying sexual desires-more or less lead an animal existence, from which they draw scant contentment. In effect, they make no use of the more meaningful resources that life offers to fulfill the human intellect and emotions. Moreover, any who seek to satisfy just their egotistic desires not only fail to to get the best out of life but also damage the society in which they live, and they do not promote the interest of others.

Next time: Conclusion of the above subject

Watchtower, 1999