Why Are We Here

Where do we come from? Where are we going? Why are we here? Philosophers rack their brains over these questions Saints and poets alike try to come to grips with them But do they concern the average person? Have they ever? Do they now? Will they tomorrow? I'd like to think that the questions are important questions I'd like to think that the answers to them are important too Yet I realize that they can be more than a little overwhelming I realize they can get trampled and buried in the busy-ness of the daily grind I realize most people have more pressing issues to attend to most of the time Where do we come from? Where are we going? Why are we here? Successful people tend to make plans, set goals, assess, reassess and reset They make plans for each day, for each week, each month, each year, for life To-do lists, revised to-do lists, priorities, budgets, revised budgets 50 things I want to do or see before I die lists But, do lists, priorities, budgets answer Where do I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here? Is it all motion, hurry-scurry, hustle-bustle, busy-busy-busy to no avail? Is there any method to our madness? Any point to all our motion? Are we all doing the hokey-pokey and just throwing ourselves about? Is it all, perhaps, as the Bard wrote: "Much Ado about Nothing?" Wise Men of Old formulated these answers: Where do we come from? -- from a putrid drop Where are we going? -- to a place of dust, maggots, and worms Why are we here? Why are we here? Why are we here? Why are we here? Alas and alack, the answer to this question is not quite so clear The wisest man in the world, Solomon, spent his life in pursuit of the answer He traveled everywhere, saw everything, lived life to the fullest Planted orchards and vineyards, cultivated vast fields, hired servants Built monuments and mansions, ate and drank to excess, took 700 wives Fasted in sackcloth and ashes, praised the sunrise and mourned its setting Yet he had no easy answers, no luminescent wisdom to offer or magic pill to take 'Vanity, vanity, all is vanity,' he wrote. 'All is vanity and chasing after wind.' This, from the wisest man in the world, who'd seen it all and done it all So, he left us with these words: 'At the end of the day, when all is said and done, (when the race is run) Keep His commandments and fear the Lord.' Do not worship strange gods. Do not make a graven image. Do not take the Lord's name in vain. Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it Holy. Honor thy father and thy mother. Do not murder. Do not commit adultery. Do not steal. Do not bear false witness. Do not covet anything or anyone. T H A T I S W H Y W E A R E H E R E. T H A T I S T H E P L A N