Unravelling the Mysteries of Life

By Black Power

It is often said paradoxically that the only constant thing in life is change; and change, as we have come to realize, is closely related to growth: humankind is able to see, hear, feel, smell, walk, love, hate, think or reason because we change. Without change, human existence is a utopia – an illusion or if you like, meaningless.

We are born into this world, some make successful transition to adulthood, get married and ultimately vanish from the surface of the earth; others unfortunately disappear before they could make it to the world of adults; in fact many do not even live to celebrate their first birthdays. Today we find ourselves in the midst of people we call our best friends, tomorrow they have become our worst enemies. Some people become very successful only to fall from grace to grass, whereas others unexpectedly rise from grass to grace.

Life, in brief, is a mixture of ups and downs, incomparably unpredictable, and almost synonymous with change. But interestingly, change, which is viewed as a constant thing in life, and thus, familiar to humankind, ironically, remains the most difficult puzzle to unravel or solve.

The constantly fluctuating cosmos and human life are engulfed in gigantic mysteries; and it appears that the more and harder we try to unravel the mysteries of life, the farther away we drag ourselves from knowing the truth. This however, does not discourage the human mind from persistently embarking on various philosophical and speculative activities in a bid to understand at least something about existence or life.

Some of the most pressing enigmatic questions/subjects that the human mind has been engaging itself with since time immemorial are: How did the universe/cosmos (including all the planets) come into existence? Is there a creator God, and how did He come into existence, if He exists? Who or what are we? How did we get here and what are we here for? Where are we going from here or what happens after death? Do the dead really know what the living do?

Does humankind have an immortal soul within? Is there any such thing as judgement, heaven, or hell? How do we reconcile the omniscience (the all-knowing nature) of the Creator God and predestination with the concept of free will and individual responsibility? Is there, after all, a devil or Satan; and if so, did the loving God create Satan to torment humankind?

How do we reconcile the goodness and loving nature of God with the creation of Lucifer, the occurrence of natural disasters and the fact of human suffering – oppression, starvation, sickness, and pain?

These are mysteries not plainly understood by any human entity, not convincingly explained by any religion, and not credibly experimented by science. We may never find convincing responses to these baffling questions, but that does not stop us from searching unwaveringly for answers.

Every Monday, starting from next week, I will be presenting a brief reflection on one or two puzzling subjects. The presentations obviously do not seek to solve the various mysteries of life but to engage the individual in a thought provoking, exciting, harmless and beneficial dialogue. This is purely academic and may not necessarily reflect my Christian, specifically Roman Catholic beliefs. Your comments on the various subjects that I will be reflecting on are very much welcomed.

Emmanuel Sarpong Owusu-Ansah (Black Power) is an Investigative Journalist, a researcher and the author of Fourth Phase of Enslavement (2011) and In My End is My Beginning (2012). He may be contacted via email ([email protected]).