Why Were You Created?

There are those who wrestle with the timeless question, WHY WAS I CREATED? They wonder what is their purpose in life. I believe I first wondered what was my purpose in life and as life began to beat me up, I wondered why was I created.

If you are of the Christian faith, it is almost DRILLED into the followers that God created humans and gave them a talent/gift and purpose. It is up to us to learn what our talent/gift is and live into it. Teachers/preachers of the Bible use the Parable of the Talents in Scripture to show it is imparative that we use the "talent" gift that God has given to us from Mathew 25:14-30. 

In the parable a master gave three men different amounts of money. One man he gave 5 talents, the second man he gave 2 talents, and the last man he gave 1 talent according to their abilities. The one he gave 5 talents went and made 5 more talents with the original 5 he was given. The man with 2 talents made 2 more talents. To the servants who DOUBLED their talents the master said, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master." The man with 1 talent buried his which DISPLEASED the master. He did not double his talent. He called the man wicked and slothful and took his talent and gave it to one of the other men. The master then said, "For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." In this passage the master represents God and the servants represents us. Instead of the talent maintaining its original meaning of MONEY, it is often taught to mean a person's personal talent or gift given to them by God. It is taught God expects us to use our talent or it will be taken away from us.

The switching from money (talent), to an individuals gift has caused people to search for their gift or talent for ages. Failing to find their gift/talent causes frustration and fear. Add to the mix that Christianinty frowns upon teaching predestination which is throughout the Bible, many become desparate trying to figure out what PURPOSE they were created for.

In other creation stories from around the world, the creation of man was an after thought. Humans were created out of waste material, even disgusting materials. There was no purpose for humans. There were not any special gifts or talents given to humans. Humans are always created last on the rung of creation. Everything else we see and enjoy such as the sky, sea, and animals all came before man.

The Western thought about ourselves has indoctrinated us to believe we are more important than other aspects of creation mainly because we are supposed to be the most intelligent, capable of great things. We set ourselves above the elements of nature and other creations such as the heavens, seas, nature, and animals. With such a high view of ourselves, we then believe we are supposed to acheive great things because we have gifts. 

We preesure ourselve, stress, and search trying to find that gift or purpose for being when the sun does not stress or feel pressure to be the sun. The stars, sea, trees, birds, and other animals do not stress about their gifts or purpose because their existence is their gift and purpose already. 

There is another part of Scripture which instructs us not to worry, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the feild, which is here today and tomorrow thrown into the fire, will he not mouch more clothe you - you of little faith" Matthew 6:25-34. In this passage we see everything and everyone is cared for and just need to focus on being.

We may live and never find out what our talent, gift, or purpose for being is and miss the joy of just being. We need to take the time and thnk about the other parts of creation which do not get wrapped up in trying to figure out why they exist but exist as they were intended to exist. A flower grows, blooms, and dies. As a Master Gardener, I look forward to the process each spring and enjoy the flowers their entire season until they are gone. Enjoy your process of growing and blooming and know in the end, you must end. But during your time, others enjoy your process also. They look forward to it. Remain humble, knowing their are creation stories which say, as humans, you are not as important as you have been led to believe. Elevating yourself above everything else in creation, may not be the healthiest stance to take.

Below are a few creation stories that are far from the creation ideal of humans in the Christian teachings. No matter whether you believe any of the creation stories of humans, stop stressing and worrying about whether your are not using your gift/talent or failing to reach your purpose. Be as the birds of the air and flowers of the field and realize, being is a gift in of itself. 

A long story of creation begins in Babylon where two watery tumultuous beings, one female and one male are the center of the story. Apsu, which is seen as sweet water represents the male and Tiamet, seen as salt water, represented the female. The union of Apsu and Tiamet produces a varieties of sea creatures and gods. In the chaos Tiamet the female creator tries to take control, but her descendants unite against her, choosing the god of Babylon; Marduk to lead them.

Armed with hurricanes, Marduk meets Tiamet and her evil accomplice Kingu in battle and kills Tiamet and Kingu both. Marduk splits the monstrous corpse of Tiamet into two parts. From one half of Tiamet, Marduk creates the earth and from the other half he creates the heavens, In the heavens he constructs a dwelling place for his colleagues, the gods. Marduk realized they would need servants, so he uses the blood of Kingu to create the first man. Take notice of the materials this myth uses to create man.  

In India Purusha is a primal man sacrificed by the gods as the act of creation. The sky comes from his head, the earth from his feet, the sun from his eyes, and the moon from his mind. The four castes of Hindu society are derived from his body. Birds and animals came from his fat which drips from him during the sacrifice.

The account of mankind from China teaches Pan Ku is hatched from a cosmic egg. Half of the shell is above him as the sky and the other half below him as the earth. He grows taller each day for 18,000 years gradually pushing the two parts apart until they reach their appointed places ultimately falling to pieces. His limbs become the mountains, his voice becomes the thunder, his blood the rivers, his breath becomes the wind, his two eyes become the sun and the moon, and the parasite on his body becomes mankind.

In the drawn-out origin story of the earth from Greece there are several gods vying for power. Eventually Zeus becomes the powerful leader. During all the chaos of battles somehow mankind arrives on earth but it’s not clear how. But men are certainly there because a free-thinking Titan named Prometheus, smuggles to mankind the valuable resource of fire. In one of many versions how the present-day man originated is that Zeus being mad at Prometheus, sends a great flood to drown mankind but two humans escape in an ark. When the flood subsides the Oracle of Delphi told the two to cast behind them two bones of their first ancestors who they reasoned was Gaea, the earth. The two threw stones over their shoulders and out of each stone a human being is created.

In Japan, the origin story does not lead to the first man but to the first emperor. Jimmu-Tenno was the first Japanese emperor with three items given to him by Ninigi, great grandfather of Jimmu-Tenno. He was given a jeweled necklace symbolizing benevolence, a mirror for purity, and a sword symbolizing courage. A necklace, mirror, and sword are still the Japanese Imperial symbols kept in an inner sanctuary of Shinto Shrines.

The Norse theory has the origin of man originating from German tribes who gradually moved south through Europe from the shores of the Baltic. It is in Scandinavia that the Germanic legends are eventually recorded and preserved in the stories of the Norse gods.

In the beginning there was nothing. Gradually water fills the space which freezes then partially melts. From the drops of melting water, a giant in human form emerges called Ymir. From Ymir armpit a man and a woman appear; giants like him. Meanwhile a cow licked the melting ice and revealed another giant who the god Odin descends. Odin and his brothers kill Ymir in his old age. Of Ymir’s flesh they make the earth, of his skull the heavens, out of his blood the sea, of his bone the mountains, and out of his hair trees.

The maggots in Ymir’s corpse take the form of stunted humans, dwarfs to remain in his body beneath the surface of the earth. On earth Odin and his colleagues breathe life into two tree trunks turning them into the first man and woman.

***Origin/Cration stories and topic are excerps from my manuscript, Manhood Interrupted but Never Denied.****