The other day I came upon the “age-old ego-stripping questions of place (Where am I?), origin (Where did I come from?), destiny (Where am I going?), identity (Who am I?), and purpose (Why am I?)”. These five questions cause us to reflect on the meaning of our lives in the past, present and future. They stop us in our tracks and make us face up to the significance of our lives and our value as persons. Let us examine each of them in turn as they pertain to me as one individual in question to illustrate how they may apply to you.

Where am I? At the present I live in a small single-story house in a cul-de-sac in a gated community on a barrier island in north Florida. I am surrounded by a canopy of trees, azaleas, camelias, viburnum and ground cover. My wife and I have lived here for over 24 years and in the nearby city of Jacksonville and Orange Park for an additional ten years. It is a quiet neighborhood of mainly retired people who have moved here from many parts of the United States.

Where did I come from? We moved here initially from Massachusetts (1976) and finally from Texas (2000) but my origins are in a small county town in New Zealand where I was born and grew up. My great-grandparents settled there in the 1860’s from Prussia (my father’s side) and England (my mother’s side). After high school I graduated from Canterbury University and moved to England when I was twenty-three to study at Durham University. I worked in London where I met my wife who was from South Carolina and we moved to Gordon College in 1971.

Where am I going? When I die I will fall asleep in Jesus. My body is going to be buried at Oaklawn Cemetery near where we used to live in Jacksonville. i believe my perishable body will be raised imperishable. It will be raised in glory and power as a spiritual body. My new body and soul is destined to be given a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade kept in heaven for me. Jesus will take me to be with him so that I may be where he is in his place, the Holy City.

Who am I? I am a husband to a beautiful, talented, and faithful wife to whom I am indebted to her loving care and companionship for over fifty-four years. I am a son to hard-working parents who raised me in comfortable circumstances. I am father to two daughters and grandfather to four grandchildren. I am a retired pastor and booklover who is always learning new things. I am a sinner who is constantly repenting and needing forgiveness for sins of omission and commission. I am a writer and author of theological books and blogs. I am a follower and disciple of Christ my Lord and Savior.

Why am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my existence? Why is there not nothing? Why is there life? What is the meaning of the universe and how do we make sense of history? Of what possible purpose is my life? I believe I am not just an accident of my parents. Genealogy is important. I am not just a biological machine for the survival of the fittest and selfish genes. There is a Creator who gave me life. He ordered my days and had a purpose for me before the beginning of the world. He took me from the dust and breathed life into me by his Spirit. I am born again of water and the Spirit. Jesus called me to follow him and commissioned me to serve him. He gave me abilities to use. He put me to work in his kingdom. He holds me accountable for how I live. I am a steward of all that he has given me. I have to run with perseverance the race that is set out for me. He will reward me for my faithful service as I endure to the end. All that I am and have done is by the grace of God who has strengthened me, guided me, taught me, comforted me and loved me despite my many failings.

How would you answer these five questions? Take time to do so.