From the work in progress Life: A Book About Learning to Live
By Jim Rosemergy
Life, A Book About Learning To Live attempts to capture the essence of life. Because of this, there are few answers to life’s problems in the following pages, at least no obvious answers. The reason is that the essence of life isn’t about answers; it’s about questions. For too long, we have been told that the path of right living is lined with answers to our questions. This has never been true. Life’s path is lined with questions, some of them have never been answered. They were not meant to be answered; they were meant to be asked. A few accurate statements can be made about life, but only a few. One of those statements is: life is mysterious. We don’t have to be on this planet for long before we realize the truth of these words. However, it may take us a lifetime to make peace with the mystery.
We tend to think of our lives as what we do and what happens to us, but if this is true, there is no eternity. When we die and cease our doing, life ceases to be. Life, if it is eternal, must be more than what we do and what is done to us. There is no definition of life in the following pages. It might be helpful to explore what makes life meaningful, but I suspect some people believe they know what life is about, while others don’t have a clue. Does this mean that one person’s life is more successful or meaningful than the life of another? We say life is a gift and what is important is what we do with it. I used to think this way, but now it seems I am not to do something with life; life is to do something with me. Life is to be lived by me. Maybe this is enough—if I can truly live.
I trust that these introductory words, even though they are few, have set the tone for the minutes, hours, and days you will spend with Life, A Book About Learning To Live. I do not believe you will be able to or should you quickly read this book. When I step back and read what I have written, I realize that I have been traveling with a friend rather than a manuscript. Simply put, friends spend time together in silent reflection. And when I come to that day when I draw my last breath, I will know that I lived in the center of the greatest mystery of the universe and that I heard and contemplated the questions that were meant to be asked. Could it be that this is the essence of life?