THE PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION
If we look into history and today’s humanity, we often see an unknown in life. Here are some examples:
- Christopher Columbus set sail not knowing where he was going, where he was, when he got there. When he returned home, he did not know where he had been.
- The EQ expert says as many as 75% of all collegiate students do not know why they are in college, what they should learn there, and how to use what they learned after being there.
- Often the elderly do not know the what, where, why and how of their lives.
For these reasons, the brilliant historian and theologian Ignatius of Loyola in his spiritual exercises wanted to teach us how to discover and live our lives. He called this THE PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION. He said it was God who gave us life to live with Him forever. He also felt it takes silent meditation and prayerful planning and effort to formulate the principle and foundation for our individual life.
Whatever the activity, the test of a real follower of God is for each to do all to the glory of God (I Corinthians 10:31). This test is not necessarily human success as we see it, but faithfulness in human life. This is to exhibit the life hid with Christ in God in human relationships and conditions (Colossians 3:3).
What a privilege!
