Life is real! Life is earnest! And the grave is not its goal..
Dust thou art, and to dust returneth was not spoken of the soul.
----Longfellow
Life is not an illusion; it is a reality. It is much more than seeking fame and fortune, or the momentary pleasures of gratifying the desires of the flesh. It is more enduring the sorrows and heartaches that it brings. Its goal is not to push the grave as far into the future as we can, but to enjoy the love we share with our family, friends and fellowmen.
Life is also choosing a vocation or profession by which we provide a livelihood, and hopefully have enough material blessings to share with someone less fortunate. It has been a deep concern of mine for a long time that many people in some nations of our world do not have enough food to sustain good health, nor decent shelter, or enough doctors to maintain good health care.
May I share with you a few personal experiences? When I graduated from high school at 17 the economy was bad--we did not speak of the economy, we called it hard times. I had no aspirations to further my education, for at that time no one went to college unless they intended to enter some profession. All I wanted was to get a job. In fact, I was already working in Pepper's Bakery on Saturdays. I baked for nearly 30 years, but the Lord tapped my on the shoulder to preach the gospel, and that has been my goal for the last 57 years.
We may need to examine our priorities, and place more emphasis on cultivating the spiritual and moral values. Longfellow was right. Our bodies will return to dust (the elements), but our spirit shall return unto God who gave it. Ecclesiastes 12:7. So let us humbly and sincerely worship God and walk with him daily, then life will, indeed, be real, and the grave shall be the door into his presence for eternity.