Why is a long life a blessing from God, would

[GEddie]

Turn the question around. We are biological beings. Everything in us, from our mind to our limbs, is designed to live and optimize life. Absent very grave physical ( or emotional) suffering, what is at all desirable about being dead?

ICXC NIKA

[GaryTaylor]

Originally Posted by pepipop

If one human being has to live like that on earth, then that is the way life is. Just because the conditions are 'normal' for such people doesn't make it any less 'painful' for these human beings. What about the homeless in the USA, most of these poor souls aren't exactly in the best of health and not exactly living the life of riley.

Also, parents that lose all their biological children through disease and illness at a very young age and are then left childless - you think they may not wish to return to their babies, their hearts totally broken.

I still have not heard a good reason why a long life is a blessing - apart from Metzlerboy that we are here to assist God, which is in itself not a blessing but a work of praise and in most people's cases suffering for God.

Life is the Blessing and the Gift. Be it long or short, the process beings in the creation of a Soul.

If you were know before conception, which you were, then your expiration date is also known. However, a Mystery known only to God.

So then what is the purpose of this life we live regardless of the individual conditions? To work in unison with the will of God thus through His Grace for the fulfillment of His Kingdom.

What is the Blessing of Life? Is its self-serving? Then to what avail if any? Dust to dust with no option of taking anything material with you..Nothing.

So to then is the understanding of justice. If we attend to the needs of those in want, we give them what is theirs, not ours. This is not a work of mercy, its a debt in justice. St Gregory termed this similiar to paraphrase

The Blessing of a longer life would be additional time to correctly situate yourself in Gods Kingdom and in accordance with His will. So understanding this is Mercy and Blessing, but how do we reconcile suffering which many are subjected to? Well this too could only be a Blessing correctly understood. I would agree one may not see it this way. but what else logically can it be? What is its message for those for whatever reason are suffering, and those who bear witness to this event?

[pepipop]

Originally Posted by GEddie

Turn the question around. We are biological beings. Everything in us, from our mind to our limbs, is designed to live and optimize life. Absent very grave physical ( or emotional) suffering, what is at all desirable about being dead?

ICXC NIKA

You go to heaven, maybe?

[pepipop]

Originally Posted by GEddie

Turn the question around. We are biological beings. Everything in us, from our mind to our limbs, is designed to live and optimize life. Absent very grave physical ( or emotional) suffering, what is at all desirable about being dead?

ICXC NIKA

Look at Ecclesiastes 6

New International Version (NIV)

6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

1 John 2:15 says "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

James 4:4 says "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

The apostles repeatedly state that we must not love this world as did Jesus on earth, referring to doing so as becoming an enemy of God - the world is Satan's domain.

I recognise John and James also refer to vices of the world, money, lust, etc... however, from ecclesiastes the writer states it would be better to be unborn than not to be able to enjoy anything in this life, and not everyone in this world is running on 'happy' chemicals.

A lot of the saints cut themselves off from this world totally and became hermits, praying constantly to God - so as to why a long life is a blessing, I'm afraid I still cannot grasp the reasoning behind it.

[Qoeleth]

Saying to someone, "May you live forever" is considered a curse in several cultures.

This life is a metaphysical exile in this valley of tears. And truly, it is not so much a 'life' as 'the shadwo of death'. Long life is a long prison sentence, whereas a short life is a shorter term. Maybe if you suffer more intensely, and achieve the soul's atonement, you die younger (cf. Wisdom 4). Maybe long life is for 'slow learners'- those whose souls stubbornly cling to the vanity of flesh and the vanities of this empty world.

Think of the joys and peace of Heaven. Who would stay here for a moment longer than they have to (even if earthly life were pleasant, which it isn't)?

But it is not for us to affect our own departure- We must wait until our Saviour opens the door of the prison.

For "man's life on earth is nothing but forced labour, hired drugery. As a slave, he longs for the shade..."

[Qoeleth]

Originally Posted by pepipop

Look at Ecclesiastes 6

New International Version (NIV)

6 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on mankind: 2 God gives some people wealth, possessions and honor, so that they lack nothing their hearts desire, but God does not grant them the ability to enjoy them, and strangers enjoy them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil.

3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

1 John 2:15 says "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him."

James 4:4 says "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

The apostles repeatedly state that we must not love this world as did Jesus on earth, referring to doing so as becoming an enemy of God - the world is Satan's domain.

I recognise John and James also refer to vices of the world, money, lust, etc... however, from ecclesiastes the writer states it would be better to be unborn than not to be able to enjoy anything in this life, and not everyone in this world is running on 'happy' chemicals.

A lot of the saints cut themselves off from this world totally and became hermits, praying constantly to God - so as to why a long life is a blessing, I'm afraid I still cannot grasp the reasoning behind it.

Well said. Finally, a traditional Christian view. If the soul's destiny is union with God, how could delaying this destiny be in any way a blessing? Who would prolong "man's days, which pass vainly as a shadow," the soul "weighed down by this tent of clay"?

After all, we must "love not the world, or anything in the world." And whoever "hates his life in this world, the same inherits eternal life."

[etmom]

But we do say life is a blessing, and yesterday at Mass our Bishop said "your very life is a gift from God.". While this is obviously true, when someone dies, especially prematurely, then the opposite must be true? That they are not blessed? They were not granted the gift of life?

My infant son died last summer, so this has been on my mind. Many people told me after his death "oh, how wonderful to have a saint in heaven" or something similiar about how great it was to have a child in heaven with God. And it IS a wonderful thing, my only consolation is that when God gave my son life, he gave it for all eternity. But we don't desire that our children die quickly, even so that they can live in fullness with God. You would never go up to a pregnant woman or someone with a small baby and tell her that with any luck, her child will die and get to be in heaven with God because that is the greatest reward. That the second best position would be to have her child live. Most parents would hope and pray that their child will have a long life. I certainly never wanted to outlive one of my children.

I can only believe that God love my son so much that he did what was best for him, not what my husband and I desired and prayed for with all our hearts and souls.

[meltzerboy]

Originally Posted by etmom

But we do say life is a blessing, and yesterday at Mass our Bishop said "your very life is a gift from God.". While this is obviously true, when someone dies, especially prematurely, then the opposite must be true? That they are not blessed? They were not granted the gift of life?

My infant son died last summer, so this has been on my mind. Many people told me after his death "oh, how wonderful to have a saint in heaven" or something similiar about how great it was to have a child in heaven with God. And it IS a wonderful thing, my only consolation is that when God gave my son life, he gave it for all eternity. But we don't desire that our children die quickly, even so that they can live in fullness with God. You would never go up to a pregnant woman or someone with a small baby and tell her that with any luck, her child will die and get to be in heaven with God because that is the greatest reward. That the second best position would be to have her child live. Most parents would hope and pray that their child will have a long life. I certainly never wanted to outlive one of my children.

I can only believe that God love my son so much that he did what was best for him, not what my husband and I desired and prayed for with all our hearts and souls.

My sincere condolences on the loss of your child. You are correct: we do wish for our children a long life. And I believe, as stated in my previous post, this is because we are created to learn how better to love G-d, each other, G-d's whole creation, and to repair the injustices in this world as best we can. Otherwise why would G-d have created us on Earth in the first place and why would he sustain us?

[BobCatholic]

A long life is a blessing from God ONLY if you have the resources needed to enjoy it. Health. Money. Free time.

A life that is so long that one's retirement funds run out...

A life that is so long that one's health runs out...

A life that is so long that one doesn't have time to enjoy it due to responsibilities that are overwhelming...

...becomes a burden and not a blessing.

[jumpfrog]

Wow, these "life is not a blessing when you are old/sick/poor" comments are weirding me out. Are you Catholic or what? I suggest that anyone thinking these thoughts has been listening to our secular culture of death, and not to Jesus who says 'carry your cross'.

Seriously. Tune up your attitude people, because if you are have this kind of thinking you are in no position to witness to people. Imagine yourself at the bedside of a terminally ill or frail and disabled person...are you going to be able to properly support that person if you are secretly thinking that their life is not a blessing to them? Will you be as willing to give to and help the very poor if you see no way to help them into a more secure life where they have the basics? Because, unless they can better themselves from desperate need what is the point, their life is a curse, so such thinking must go, on some level in our psyche.

Hoo boy. I think this is a great conversation...what is the purpose of our lives? To have a good time, to be comfortable and happy? I think that those things are very worthy, but that is not what we live for. We live to know and love God, and every day that we get to do that is a blessing, rich or poor, healthy or not. The people who don't know this truth are the ones who live under a curse.

Going to heaven is by no means guaranteed for anyone, so make the most of your time here to know and love God.

[vera dicere]

Illness is a result of sin and our wounded nature. That's not to say that those who live a long life are sin free, or that people who die young are sinners. We all suffer because of teh actions of others. A disease in your present may be a result of the sin of a ancestor, incest, et cetera, or any other number of biological conditions.

Long life is a blessing, in that all life is a blessing. The foetus who lives for three months in the womb is blest, even if they are miscarried. They existed. They have a soul. Their soul is free of any personal sin and God will show them mercy as they had no way way of defending against orginial sin. The person who lives to be 90 is also blessed. They get to have a chance at living the Gospel and in their example they can show others how to love Christ.

It sucks when people die young, or are unwell, but every day is a blessing, even those chronically unwell are blessed, they have an opportunity to teach others humility and generosity. Every day is a chance to find favour with God. A person who lives to 90 has more days to do that then someoen who dies in their late teens as a result of poor choices.

[pepipop]

Originally Posted by meltzerboy

My sincere condolences on the loss of your child. You are correct: we do wish for our children a long life. And I believe, as stated in my previous post, this is because we are created to learn how better to love G-d, each other, G-d's whole creation, and to repair the injustices in this world as best we can. Otherwise why would G-d have created us on Earth in the first place and why would he sustain us?

Exactly, why has God created souls and placed them on this earth in the first place, especially after original sin?

He sent his own son to earth to save us, which was the ultimate sacrifice - hence living on earth can't be that much of a 'blessing or gift', if God's only son had to come down to earth to 'save us'.

So why are we here? I believe the angels went through some similar trial to show their love of God before seeing the beatific vision (please correct me if I am wrong), and then Satan rebelled anyway. So is earth a trial for us humans to go through to show our love of God or otherwise and then through our own free will we decide to be with God for eternity or not? If so, is that why life is a blessing as we get to choose eternal life, as opposed to never knowing and not been created at all?

[tonyrey]

Originally Posted by pepipop

Exactly, why has God created souls and placed them on this earth in the first place, especially after original sin?

He sent his own son to earth to save us, which was the ultimate sacrifice - hence living on earth can't be that much of a 'blessing or gift', if God's only son had to come down to earth to 'save us'.

So why are we here? I believe the angels went through some similar trial to show their love of God before seeing the beatific vision (please correct me if I am wrong), and then Satan rebelled anyway. So is earth a trial for us humans to go through to show our love of God or otherwise and then through our own free will we decide to be with God for eternity or not? If so, is that why life is a blessing as we get to choose eternal life, as opposed to never knowing and not been created at all?

1. Life is indeed a blessing regardless of how long we live.

2. It is impossible for all lives to be equal.

3. There are advantages and disadvantages for both long and short lives.

4. Eternal life in heaven is not always a matter of choice.

5. No one is deprived of eternal life in heaven on account of his or her age at death.

[pepipop]

Originally Posted by tonyrey

1. Life is indeed a blessing regardless of how long we live. Why?

2. It is impossible for all lives to be equal. [Yes, I agree.

3. There are advantages and disadvantages for both long and short lives. Of course.

4. Eternal life in heaven is not always a matter of choice.
Exactly so is this a test, rather than a blessing?

5. No one is deprived of eternal life in heaven on account of his or her age at death.
Of course not.

[GEddie]

How is eternal life not a choice? No one will be denied it except on the basis of their freely chosen actions.

ICXC NIKA