[OrigamiSensei]

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Is nobody on 2+2 religious? I'm not at all, but it seems like someone should be having a field day with this thread.

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I wasn't all that sure anybody wanted us butting in. What I can do is state clearly my own personal experience which is that my relationship with God is the cornerstone of meaning in my life and happiness flows through that relationship. I can't put it any more simply than that.

King Solomon's book of Ecclesiastes is a powerful take on the meaningless of existence without God. He had it all:
- Sex (1000 wives and countless concubines, many of them among the most beautiful women in the world)
- Drugs (mostly alcohol is referred to, but I'm sure he had access to any known drug of the time that existed)
- Money and possessions (he was the richest man in the world at the time)
- Power (he was the most powerful king in the world at the time)
- Entertainment (musicians, jugglers, storytellers, etc.)

and whatever else the richest, most powerful man on earth could come up with as ideas to make himself happy without taking God into account. Pretty much whatever he wanted he could snap his fingers and get. He clearly states that all attempts to get rid of the gnawing void through the usual worldly methods were unsuccessful. "Vanity", he says, "all is vanity". Today vanity is often taken to mean egoism or arrogance but the meaning of the word is actually emptiness or pointlessness. In conclusion he asserts the only meaning in life comes through God. It's a powerful warning tale about the inability of the things we try so hard to get not giving the desired results. To be sure those things can bring temporary happiness or distraction but in the end they don't satisfy.