K stated: Happiness is the purpose for design. Design provides for basic needs. People are happy when basic needs are met.
B responded: Basic needs? I can't buy food if I pay my medical bills, I can't pay my medical bills if I pay my routine creditors (mortgages, utilities, & communications, etc.). But I eat well enough and enjoy my life in our little home with my dear wife of 20 years (our anniversary was May 14th). How about those who are more desperate than we are, who go to bed hungry, or live in feeble shelters that afford little comfort in winter or summer? How about those in Haiti or other such places who live in great want and die young? This world's design is a poor work indeed, happiness is fleeting for most of us, and basic needs are met for few while some horde exorbitant excess with callous disregard for any others. It is truly a good design for nothing other than hell.
My Comments: Happiness is a state of mind, and is indeed fleeting in this world. There is much happening all around to affect those who feel for others, and wish for equality and justice, dream of a world where all live in peace, free of needs, a world of truth, of mutual respect and care...
There will be such a world, an ever-lasting world, and that is why the Day of Recompense has been promised: the Day when justice will be established, and every soul will be rewarded for its deeds, and not a single thing, big or small, will be ignored. The Day of Recompense will not be established because God wishes to punish people, but it will be established because God wishes to bless and reward those who believed and did good deeds. The punishment for evil will be a consequence of the need to establish justice, and the punishment will be according to the evil of the deeds. The blessings and rewards for those who believed and did good, will be multiplied and be far more than what they strove for.
It is important to remember that this life on Earth is transient, and we are all on trial. The analogy is like a theatre play: we are all playing parts, in which some are rich, others poor, some happy, others sad, each playing its own role, and each moving towards the finale... when the curtain comes down, and the play stops, then will the performers be judged how well they played their role.
If we take the life of this world to be et al, an end to itself, then nothing makes sense, but if we understand that this is a brief exam, and that everyone and everything will receive full justice, then one can begin to appreciate the grand scheme.
B responded: Basic needs? I can't buy food if I pay my medical bills, I can't pay my medical bills if I pay my routine creditors (mortgages, utilities, & communications, etc.). But I eat well enough and enjoy my life in our little home with my dear wife of 20 years (our anniversary was May 14th). How about those who are more desperate than we are, who go to bed hungry, or live in feeble shelters that afford little comfort in winter or summer? How about those in Haiti or other such places who live in great want and die young? This world's design is a poor work indeed, happiness is fleeting for most of us, and basic needs are met for few while some horde exorbitant excess with callous disregard for any others. It is truly a good design for nothing other than hell.
My Comments: Happiness is a state of mind, and is indeed fleeting in this world. There is much happening all around to affect those who feel for others, and wish for equality and justice, dream of a world where all live in peace, free of needs, a world of truth, of mutual respect and care...
There will be such a world, an ever-lasting world, and that is why the Day of Recompense has been promised: the Day when justice will be established, and every soul will be rewarded for its deeds, and not a single thing, big or small, will be ignored. The Day of Recompense will not be established because God wishes to punish people, but it will be established because God wishes to bless and reward those who believed and did good deeds. The punishment for evil will be a consequence of the need to establish justice, and the punishment will be according to the evil of the deeds. The blessings and rewards for those who believed and did good, will be multiplied and be far more than what they strove for.
It is important to remember that this life on Earth is transient, and we are all on trial. The analogy is like a theatre play: we are all playing parts, in which some are rich, others poor, some happy, others sad, each playing its own role, and each moving towards the finale... when the curtain comes down, and the play stops, then will the performers be judged how well they played their role.
If we take the life of this world to be et al, an end to itself, then nothing makes sense, but if we understand that this is a brief exam, and that everyone and everything will receive full justice, then one can begin to appreciate the grand scheme.