What on Earth am I Here For? - Day One.

I'm going to quote the parts that I underlined when I was reading this before, and then I'll share my thoughts. It should be interesting, at the very least.

1. It All Starts with God.

You were born by his purpose and for his purpose. (p. 17)
focusing on ourselves will never reveal our life's purpose (p. 17)
"It is God who directs the lives of his creatures; everyone's life is in his power." (p. 18)
It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. (p. 18)
life is about letting God use you for his purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. (p. 18)
But being successful and fulfilling your life's purpose are not at all the same issue! (p. 19)
"God's wisdom... goes deep into the interior of his purposes....It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest - what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us." (p. 20)
Without God life makes no sense. (p. 21)

So far, so good. I am a little concerned about the apparent adherence to predestination. Some of what's written in this chapter seems to imply that we don't actually have a choice about our lives.

The basic premise is good, though. It really isn't about us. It's about God, it's about other people. The two greatest commandments make that clear (love God with all you are, and love others as you love yourself - I've written on this topic in the past).

There are a few things said in this chapter that I don't like, though. Specifically, the idea that "You may choose your career, your spouse, your hobbies, and many other parts of your life, but you don't get to choose your purpose." (p. 21)

What's so wrong about that?

Well, I guess it depends on what you end up finding as your purpose. I actually think that we have more than one purpose.

As I said in my previous post, our purpose (humanity's purpose) is to express God. Now, I believe that all of creation has this purpose, and that even those who do not believe in God are often expressing him without realising it.

Then there is the purpose inherent within the two greatest commandments - our purpose is to love. This is specific to humanity.

Finally, there is individual purpose. This is usually called vocation. It has to do with what God has called us to do with our lives.

Here's the thing: I don't believe that our individual purpose is static. Your vocation isn't really just one thing that God wants you to do, and if you don't do it then you're SOL. Now, perhaps this book is meant to look more specifically at the first two types of purpose we have in life. But it markets itself as the third kind, and that is dangerous.