Time is a precious gift. Life as a priceless gift Life as a value and a precious gift
2. Life as a value
Life or existence is the core, basic value of a person. It is a general condition or prerequisite for all his states and actions. But it is important to emphasize that the priority is not the value of life, but the value of a person, since it is the personality that exists, the personality that lives, the personality that exists, while life, no matter how valuable and significant it may seem to us in itself, is nothing more than the most immediate place the focus of the emergence of personality, the way of its being in the world.
Modern anthropology, psychology and philosophy have shown that the birth of a person is a complex, multi-stage process. In the beginning we are given our immediate existence, life. Personality is born on its basis, but not simultaneously with our biological birth, but later.
If personality is essence and life is existence, then our existence precedes our essence. To say that an entity exists is to say that a person lives. But it is the essence, the personal beginning that is the semantic and value center of a person.
To correctly understand a person, it is necessary to overcome the danger of so-called genetic reductionism, i.e. reducing the essence of the subsequent to the essence of the previous, generating this subsequent. Information only on the basis that one preceded the other. It is wrong, say, to consider a person “essentially” a monkey just because a person descended from a monkey. It is also wrong to reduce the essence of a person to his existence, and the personality to her life.
Life is a way of being for a person as the possessor, owner of life, its master and ruler. If the opposite situation occurs, then the person turns into a slave of his life, and a life of joy turns into a life of burden. Man is the goal. His life is a means to this end.
The value of life as such is twofold. On the one hand, life is given to us as the highest gift, a universal opportunity, and therefore we should highly value life, feel reverence and respect for it. On the other hand, life is given to someone who is not just life, but a person - a being living his own life, a free, thinking, creative being who knows life, its beginning and end, its limitless possibilities and its biological boundaries, a being aware of finitude life. And therefore, the one to whom it is given is given (literally for nothing!) in order to be lived by him - more priority, more important than life, is its subject. Good or bad is another question. There are geniuses, and there are also mediocre lives.
Perhaps there is even a law of life: we are either higher than life, if we live it with dignity, or lower, i.e. We turn out to be unworthy of this gift if we live somehow, floating with the flow. But in any case, a person and his life are not the same thing. The birth of personality is the act of life going beyond its biological limits. This means that reason and freedom are born in its womb, giving rise to a whole fireworks display of unique cultural phenomena that cannot be reduced to life as a biological process.
Life either exists or it doesn’t. But its quality may vary. If we live, support our life, love and care for it in the name of good and not at the expense of the lives and values of other people, then we are human, and our life is good and rich. If inhuman principles take over in us, then our life begins to degrade, weaken, become poorer and weaker. Its value decreases to the extent that it is burned through and killed by the inhuman in us. The more humane and richer our life is, the higher its value. Life is valuable to the extent that I am a humane master of my life.
“Just living,” living a passive, vegetative life, surrendering to the flow of everyday life and the moment, means thoughtlessly wasting your starting capital, that initial reserve of life that we all have already by the time the first acts of consciousness and self-awareness appear, by the time we awaken to us personality and humanity. There is a saying: one person lives to eat, another eats to live. A humane person can say that he eats and lives in order to become and be a humane person, in order to create himself and the values of personal, social and universal life, in order to improve and elevate the dignity of man.
Life is valuable because it is the initial basis, method, process during which we can only manifest, call to active existence, realize our humanity, all our positive qualities and virtues, all our values.
From this alone, human life becomes infinitely valuable, becomes a universal value. The boundless value of life is already manifested in the fact that it invites everyone and everything to its feast, to the feast of life; it finds a place for everyone and every human being at its holiday. As our priceless gift and real chance, she, without any preconditions, tells each of us - live!
Perhaps what was just said sounded too declarative. There are diseases that make very existence a test, early deaths, etc. And yet, in the infinite value of life, as long as we can live, all its black spots seem to drown. In addition, a real tragedy can play out between a person and his life. Life can become unbearable for him. And then he can exercise his right to life: stop it. In particular, the right to a dignified life and a dignified death is discussed in connection with the issue of euthanasia.
Every mentally healthy person values life, regardless of whether it looks successful by accepted standards or not - this is further confirmation of the realism of the humanistic understanding of man. However, life itself, regardless of its assessment, which is always secondary, requires a humane attitude towards itself. To be realized as a value, it must exist, must be preserved as such, it must be supported, strengthened and enriched. But the internal reserves of life and the instincts of its self-preservation alone are not enough. And here's why.
Life is the universal, all-encompassing basis of human existence. This means that it is open to both the human and the inhuman in us. That is why it can be joy, and grief, and wings, and a yoke on the neck, and luxury, good luck, and poverty, failure and curse. Millions and tens of millions of drug addicts and alcoholics, street and homeless children, orphans, hundreds of millions of poor people doomed in different countries to vegetation, hunger and suffering due to the fault of totalitarian and ignorant ruling forces and due to the archaic traditions of lack of freedom and obedience - all of them were not unable or denied the opportunity to realize their potential in life.
But in any case, life itself cannot but be valuable. It becomes a burden or even unbearable not because of its own essence, but only insofar as it is permeated, clothed with the negativity of the inhumane in a person or that existing outside the human being that oppresses him, undermines him, deprives him of his strength.
If we understand by human life not only its biological side, but also its mental and intellectual side (and only such integrity can be called human life), then it is easy to imagine how wide the range of intrusion of the anti-human into us, into our own lives.
When for some reason a reliable barrier is not installed on the path of this invasion, when the inhumane is not opposed by the humane, then the process of life begins to acquire a negative meaning, becomes inhumane and destructive both for the person himself, and for society, and for the environment.
The biological principles of life and primitive survival instincts alone can still support the life of a misanthrope, a murderer or a rapist.
Life becomes even more twilight, flawed and weakened, the more it is affected by inhumanity, cynicism and nihilism.
The worst thing that can happen to a person is the victory of the inhumane in him. His final victory means spiritual degradation and death, stimulating, one way or another, physical degradation and death. No villain is truly happy, and the average life expectancy of hardened criminals is much lower than the average life expectancy.
Life has not only internal enemies in the person of the person himself, but also external enemies that exist outside the boundaries of the individual and society. The dangers that threaten life as a biological process are especially obvious: diseases, natural disasters, unhealthy habitats. Although in many ways these enemies may be socially determined, and either stimulated by social factors, or weakened, and some even defeated by social measures taken, the very nature of these threats is associated with physical, general biological or environmental laws. In this context, the question arises about that component of our life that is connected with our flesh, corporeality and its value.
The value of our body is not only biological, physical and aesthetic. It is actually vital, existential, since it is fundamentally connected with our existence as life.
Our body is the only possible way of our physical and biological existence.
No matter how exciting the prospects for creating an artificial brain or an artificial person may be, the physical, the biological will always be inseparable from us as individuals, from our inner world, our self.
Life is a precious gift. And it is in turbulent times that we all understand this. It is only when events occur on Earth that affect the masses and not just individuals that we begin to understand what our life is and that it should not be wasted or wasted on experiences and survival.
Every moment we have the opportunity to look around us and see the wonders of life. With every breath we take, we have the opportunity to be grateful for our lives and for what we already have. Look carefully around - everything in nature lives in unity with each other, in harmony and in accordance with life cycles, and only people are trying to “conquer nature”, “resist the elements”, “pacify”, “expand”, “destroy”, etc. .d.
Without learning to understand the world around him, a person tries to change it in accordance with the level of his understanding. And those who think that this is possible are in illusion. The Earth existed long before the advent of humanity, and will exist after it. This experiment that is currently taking place on the planet is for us - for people, not for the planet. We must understand, realize and be able to do this. For us it can be successful or unsuccessful. Realize this! There is no need to save the Earth - it can handle everything on its own. Unlike people, the Earth knows where and why it is going, what goal it is achieving. Pay attention to yourself and learn to live in harmony with yourself, with each other, the nature around you and the Universe.
Stop resisting life. Love her for who she is, love people as God created them, love yourself enough to know and understand. You will move through life with ease and ease only when you stop resisting what is happening in your life NOW.
You can imagine the happiest outcome of certain events, the most favorable combination of circumstances, your unusually happy life. But you will achieve all this much more easily if you stop resisting what is right for you in this present moment, agree with the life as it is now, and then take the next step towards the life that your soul strives for.
The main changes in our lives begin with a change in our attitude towards the world and one small step. Time to start taking these steps is very precious right now. Life is precious and too short to be wasted in resisting the desires of your own heart.
But think about it, do you really know what you want? Or do you live your life doing what you are “supposed” to do, according to the programs that have been programmed into you throughout your life? Take time to remember and write down all your “debts” - both those that you have been told about and those that you have modeled for yourself. And then look at your life and see what you would like to improve.
“The needs of others (family, friends, colleagues, etc.) are more important than my own,” “I must be responsible, even if this means ignoring my heart’s desires/unwillings,” “I must do my job before I think.” about entertainment”, “I should eat lunch first and then dessert”, “I should eat better”, “I should be thinner”, “At this age I should be married”, “I should be good, even if it means I’ll have to keep silent about what I really think”, “I have to say YES when I want to say NO, because I don’t want to offend anyone, although I’m offending my soul!”... Continue on. Dig deeper.
Allow all your “shoulds” that define your behavior, actions and life in general to rise to the surface. And when you're done, try to feel the weight of all those shoulds and shoulds. Feel what a burden it is to be someone other than who you really are at any given moment. And when you are ready, tear and burn that piece of paper, and decide to be yourself in every moment, in every situation.
Who said you have to be married, rich, slimmer, thicker, prettier, more modest, calmer, more outspoken, etc? God says otherwise. God says, “Be who you are.” Love yourself. You are already beautiful, you are beautiful just the way you are.
Observe your life over the course of a week: how much there is in it that you do because you have to, and what you really want to do. For example, why do you go to work: because you need to pay bills, loans, something to live on, or because you want to pay bills, pay off a loan and want to earn a living? What's the difference? Well, think about it... You could quit your job and let others take care of you, for example, if you wanted. Or, for example, find another job - easier, more interesting, with more income. You could make a career in another field or create your own business. You see, there are many options to choose from. You just need to allow yourself to think about why you are doing this or that, living this or that life, and change what you “should” do to what you want to do.
Make your own choices. Do what you really want to do. And if you don’t want to do something, look for options and start acting, changing what you can change without changing yourself. The more often you are yourself, the more pleasant, joyful and harmonious your life will be. You will feel much more comfortable because you are at peace and in harmony with yourself. And, as a result, you will allow others to be who they are without trying to change or correct them.
We are who God made us to be and who we are meant to be, and that can't be wrong. We are like parts of one big puzzle, which will easily fit into a picture of life when we all start being ourselves, and stop trying to conform to others’ ideas about what we “should” be.
The next time you feel forced to be someone other than who you are, think again... You bring love and kindness to the world, and you can be honest with the world about who you really are. in fact. Please speak your truth - what you really think. Wear what you feel comfortable in and what makes you feel happy. Eat what your body wants, not what you “can eat” according to books or someone else’s recommendations. Do what brings you joy.
Life is really too short for trying to be someone other than yourself.
With love and in love,
Tutta Mayer
06/01/2018 | website
Teach us to number our days in such a way that we may acquire a wise heart (Ps. 89:12).
Our time belongs to God. Every moment of our lives belongs to Him, and our most solemn duty is to use this gift to glorify His name. We will not have to give Him such a strict account of any talent given to us by God as we do of the use of the time given to us.
Time is priceless. Christ considered every moment of life precious, and we should treat time the same way. Life is too short to be wasted on trifles. We have only a short time of probation during which we must prepare for eternity. We have no time to waste or devote to selfish pleasures, no time to indulge in sin. It is now that we form our character for the future eternal life. Only now can we prepare for the future consideration of our cases.
The human family, having barely begun to live, immediately began to die... A person who well understands the value of time as assigned to him for work will prepare himself for the heavenly abode, for immortal life. Such a person will justify his birth.
The time given to us must be used profitably. But time wasted cannot be recovered. We cannot take back a single moment we have lived. The only way in which we can make any restitution is to make the best use of the time remaining to us, by becoming laborers together with God in carrying out His great plan of redemption...
Every moment we live has some consequences in eternity. We must be constantly ready to respond to the call to service. Who knows if we will again be given the opportunity to speak the word of life to a soul in need, the opportunity we have now, at this moment. God can at any time say to a person whom we did not have time to help: “This night your soul will be taken from you” (Luke 12:20), and he will not be ready because we have neglected our duty. What account will we give on the great day of judgment? ( Christ's Object Lessons, With. 342, 343).
Life is a precious gift that has been given to each of us. As much as you value your own life, it is important to respect the life of every person. Children can be taught this concept from an early age to make it easier for them to retain these values throughout their lives. Here are some good ways to teach your children to appreciate life.
Instructions
- 1 Take part in an event dedicated to supporting the Mother and Child Home in your city. This will help raise money for expectant mothers who do not have enough money to raise their children, or who simply need help. Explain to your child that even an unborn baby has life. You can also tell your child that helping other people is a way to show that you understand the value of life.
- 2 If your child notices another child who stands out in his class, use this to emphasize the fact that all people deserve equal treatment. It doesn't matter whether that child is disabled or comes from another part of the world; he is important to God and deserves respect like any other person.
- 3 If a pet has died, it is time to talk to your child about the differences between the lives of humans (created in the image of God) and animals. Allow your child to grieve the loss of a pet, but also make it clear that God values human life much more highly than the life of an animal. Refer to Genesis 1:26-27 (about human life) and Psalms 49:12 (about animals).