I think it is valuable to have an image in mind which captures what you think the meaning of life is. Too often people talk about the MOL in woolly, abstract, sentimental terms and you can’t help but think they have stolen their idea from the back of a cereal box.
Images are powerful and can help you to articulate your thoughts. As symbols they can capture meaning which cannot be possessed by written language. The image can be metaphorical or literal, but the most important thing is that it is emotive, spurring your desires.
As an example of a simple yet powerful, metaphorical and emotive image representing an ideal, consider the following text, which supposedly represents what the world will be like when Jesus Christ returns to earth in God’s Kingdom (Isaiah 11:6):
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them.
Just to give an example of an image that may represent the meaning of life for someone:
Wakened by its golden sun, I stretch out to the world in anticipation of the work it has given me. I put on my boots and open the door to its fields. I labour to bring forth its bounty and at night I sit down with fellow workers to enjoy its blessings. I do this all my life, until the boots are no longer needed, and then the world says to me, “thank you” and I say “you’re welcome.”
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