If my reward is...

[Amerigo Vespucci]

...that I get to go to Heaven (which I don't believe in...I believe in everything else, but for reasons I won't go into here, not Heaven), and that I get to see my "loved ones" again (no desire to do that...I cannot think of a single dead person, including my parents, that I would ever want to see again, including anyone I know who hasn't died yet)...

...if that's really what it's all about, really why I suffer here on Earth, and I believe everything EXCEPT that, what's it all about?

[Journeyman]

1. I don't know. I had an alcoholic tell me once that the purpose of life is to create. . .

and happiness is a product of that creation.

Seems as good a reason as any.

[GliderGuider]

2. What about liberation?

There are lots of things about this existence that one might want to be liberated from, and it's not necessary to leave the world or believe in a god in order to do that.

The thing is, if you want to be liberated, you have to learn. And the most effective lessons are the hardest. If you see all the shit as opportunities to make sandwiches (lemons, lemonade, same thing) the world and its suffering takes on a whole new appearance.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. I'd like liberation from trying to help people who do not want to be helped.

I'm actually in the process of doing that right now.

I'm sick and tired of people who say "I WANT MORE CUSTOMERS" and then say "but I'm not willing to make an effort or spend any money to get them."

Plenty of people want my help...for free.

A friend told me earlier this evening "God will bless your efforts" and I asked "When? The hundreds...maybe thousands..of doors I've asked, sought, and knocked in front of have been the equivalent of pumping dry wells. When's this blessing going to start? Tomorrow?"

Then the conversation turned to my "eternal home" and I bailed.

[GliderGuider]

4. Maybe changing your definition of "reward" would help...

That would be a longer term project, though.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

5. Virtually 100% of the Christians I associate with call it that...or something similar.

"What you're going through is nothing compared to your eternal reward"...said to me while I'm going through it and they're not...and I want to clock them.

[GliderGuider]

6. Yep.

"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's" doesn't apply just to taxes or money. It can also mean, "Look for rewards in the appropriate place." As in, look for temporal rewards in the here and now, and eternal rewards in the spiritual realm. Don't confuse the two.

Clock them, they are assholes who deserve it.

[dimbear]

7. Why you suffer.........

Because the sensation of pain is far more acute and impressive than any other sensation. That's because it's more important to you to take your hand out of the fire than for you to enjoy the sunset or your breakfast.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. Sunsets lead to sunrises

These days I don't look forward to sunrises. Today brought a phone call that turned the heat in the furnace up to Mesach, Shadrach and Abed-Nego levels. I know how that story ends, but when you're in the furnace, it just burns.

I do hear what you're saying, and appreciate it.