Thoughts, musings, and ruminations on the purpose of life.https://www.delhsmith.com/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/thank-god-for-purgatory/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/thank-god-for-purgatory/Purgatory is arguably the most misunderstood teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Catechism clarifies its teaching. Simply put, it teaches that purgatory is a state of purification, prerequisite to the state of heaven, of which it assures us. It differs from the state of hell.…Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/agape-love/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/agape-love/While at a COR (Christ in Others) retreat with my late wife, I briefly met a paraplegic on a field trip to Participation House, an assisted-living residence in Markham. On the visit, I learned his name was Alf Saltarelli. I decided at the end of the retreat to initiate regular visits with him. On my…Thu, 19 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/a-much-needed-wakeup-call/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/a-much-needed-wakeup-call/In the late 1990’s, I travelled to Mumbai, India on a sales process consulting gig for Microsoft. On a weekend during my stay at the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, I decided to do a little morning sightseeing. I chose the museum with the longest name – the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vaastu Sangamaya! As I…Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/achieving-true-happiness/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/achieving-true-happiness/Is true happiness eluding you? By true happiness, I mean a permanent happiness, independent of whatever you experience. Is such a state of happiness even achievable? I suspect your answer is, “No!” as it was for me for most of my life. What makes you happy? Is it financial security, health, the love…Thu, 15 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/gurusrus/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/gurusrus/What is your position on the meaning of life. Have you decided that life has no meaning – “we live, we die, next!”? Have you decided that the meaning of life is to do what you think good people should do? For you, has life’s meaning been defined by your understanding of philosophy or the teachings…Thu, 01 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-joy-of-overcoming-sin/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-joy-of-overcoming-sin/Are you put off by the Roman Catholic Church’s insistence that you continually sin? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! Can you think of any organization that has carried out as much evil over the past 2000 years? But then again, can you think of any organization that has done as much good…Mon, 15 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/faith-and-reason/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/faith-and-reason/As a flaming atheist in the 1960’s, I was disgusted by what I was learning about the Roman Catholic Church. As late as the end of the nineteenth century, the Church insisted that its faithful should not read the Bible. When I pursued its teachings, I was repeatedly warned to not rely on reason. I…Mon, 01 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/when-prayers-are-answered/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/when-prayers-are-answered/Are prayers answered? For most of my life, my answer was, “No!”. For many of my friends, their answer is, “No”. One made this clear. When I told him I would pray for him, he responded, “Knock yourself out!”. Others are less adamant but make it clear that they would be much happier if I offered them…Sat, 15 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-many-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-many-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit/Two weeks less a day, prior to this writing, Christians of most denominations celebrated Pentecost. Each year, on the 50th day of Easter, they celebrate the visual descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles in the presence of a great number of people from surrounding countries. This event is…Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-many-faces-of-our-creator/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-many-faces-of-our-creator/Would you agree with me that, as far as we know, no one has seen the face of our creator nor knows if our creator even has a face? Despite this, would you also agree that most of us have a picture of our creator in our mind? How did it get there? Might our creator have put it there? Might this have…Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-rubik-s-cube-of-life-s-meaning/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-rubik-s-cube-of-life-s-meaning/Towards the end of the fourth century, St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.” Of course, he is addressing our creator. Can we know, as well as we know anything, that he was correct? Call in the Rubik’s Cube of Life’s…Wed, 01 May 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-if-god-is-waiting-for-you-and-me/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-if-god-is-waiting-for-you-and-me/In his epic poem, The Hound of Heaven, Francis Thompson portrays God as a hound, relentlessly pursuing us however hard we try to escape. Here’s an excerpt. From those strong feet that followed, followed after But with unhurrying chase and unperturbed pace, Deliberate speed, majestic instancy, They…Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-world-is-a-mess-what-can-i-do-about-it/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-world-is-a-mess-what-can-i-do-about-it/Is there any doubt that the world is a mess? Barely one night goes by that the evening news does not contain one or several stories of tragedy. Just one study has determined that one billion people on our planet are chronically hungry (read starving to death); two billion don’t have safe drinking…Mon, 01 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/do-you-have-a-favourite-prayer/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/do-you-have-a-favourite-prayer/During the 2024 Lenten season, I took the sacrament of reconciliation during a retreat. The priest asked me if I had a favourite prayer? For my penance, he asked that I say that prayer slowly, focusing on every word and phrase. Do you have a favourite prayer? If I had been asked that question…Fri, 15 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-common-sense-as-good-as-it-gets/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-common-sense-as-good-as-it-gets/In Are Our Most Important Questions Unanswerable?, we concluded that answers based on reasoning and observation provide us knowledge, though not absolute, as good as any knowledge humans possess. We concluded that, although our most important questions about God and life after death cannot be…Fri, 01 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/many-are-called-but-few-are-chosen/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/many-are-called-but-few-are-chosen/In our last post, we pursued whether the question, “Why does a loving God expose us to suffering?”, is unanswerable. Using reasoning, we concluded that it is answerable and developed two answers.[^1] Why is it so very important that we do our best to develop our answer? It is because, in the absence…Thu, 15 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-god-messing-with-my-mind/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-god-messing-with-my-mind/Until recently, I was convinced that anyone expecting to receive something for which they prayed to God, was kidding themselves. I felt this way for three reasons. Firstly, everything we know about the universe suggests that it works according to what we call the laws of nature, originally…Mon, 15 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-courageous-ostrich/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-courageous-ostrich/Once upon a time, a beautiful ostrich was born. Well, it was beautiful to its mother anyway. While it was with its mother, it was the happiest, most carefree ostrich it knew. One day, it got separated from its mother and from that day on, it never found her again. From that day on, the ostrich…Mon, 01 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-elephant-in-the-room/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-elephant-in-the-room/If you’ve checked out my book, Discovering Life’s Purpose, or this blog, you know I feel nothing is more important to all of us than learning to live our lives on Earth according to our creator’s purpose for us. To that end, I’ve tried over the past decades to engage people whose thinking might help…Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/god-incorporated/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/god-incorporated/In my November 15 post – All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day – we questioned why there was no All Angels’ Day. This led to the question, “Do angels really exist and if so, how can we know that they do?”. Unless you have discovered a way to know the answer to these questions, would you care to join me…Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/all-saints-day-and-all-souls-day/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/all-saints-day-and-all-souls-day/The Roman Catholic Church designates November 1 as All Saints’ Day and November 2 as All Souls’ Day. Every year these feast days have raised unanswered questions in my mind. Were you born into Roman Catholicism? If so, you may know the answers to my questions (or not!). Were you, like me, a convert…Wed, 15 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-75-year-war/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-75-year-war/On October 7, 2023, Hamas succeeded in entering Southern Israel, killing up to 1400 Israelis, and taking close to 220 hostages. It was the deadliest attack in nearly 75 years. In response, Netanyahu declared war with the objective of wiping out Hamas. As of October 26, the death toll was 2600…Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/unrequited-love/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/unrequited-love/Christian teaching, seen simplistically, is that bad people go to hell and good people go to heaven. Christian funerals consistently claim that the deceased is now at peace in heaven with our God. We mourners confidently accept that. We are convinced that our deceased is not a bad person, and that…Sun, 15 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/steering-the-queen-mary/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/steering-the-queen-mary/Steering a ship of the Queen Mary’s enormous size calls for the use of very robust equipment. The steering gear that serves the vessel weighs 180 tons and occupies a space about 68 feet long and 25 feet wide. The huge ship does not turn easily or quickly. It’s a little bit like the Roman Catholic…Sun, 01 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/rights-and-responsibilities/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/rights-and-responsibilities/Do you find abortion to be one of the most, if not the most contentious issue of our time? Is your position on this fixed? If so, is it your position that it should be permitted or prohibited? Do you take the position that it is a woman’s right to choose to abort or that it is a woman’s…Fri, 15 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-rich-man-and-the-camel/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-rich-man-and-the-camel/Have you heard the one about the rich man and the camel? No one tells them like Jesus! Check it out in Matt 19: 23-26. As He does elsewhere, Jesus warns us we can do nothing without God. Of course, it follows we can do anything with God. But what does this have to do with us? Most of us are not…Fri, 01 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/are-your-bags-all-packed-for-eternal-life/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/are-your-bags-all-packed-for-eternal-life/Do you know, as well as you know anything, that you will be taking the trip of your life at the end of your earthly life – that you will be on a trip to eternal life? If you harbour any doubts about this, the sound reasoning in the Meaning of Life Video Series may put those doubts to rest. If not…Tue, 15 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-did-god-restrict-his-covenant/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-did-god-restrict-his-covenant/Have you ever wondered why, according to the Old Testament, God chose the Jewish people with whom to make His covenant? Why would a God, who loves all of us, focus on the Jewish people and ignore the rest of us? Do you find this as puzzling as I have for most of my life? Might the Jewish prophets…Tue, 01 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-greatest-commandment-yardstick/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-greatest-commandment-yardstick/What yardstick should we use to measure how well we’ve met The Greatest Commandment? In All the Alls in The Greatest Commandment, we concluded that The Greatest Commandment demands that we love God more than we love anyone or anything. In The Neighbour in The Greatest Commandment, we concluded that…Sat, 15 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-kid-who-wouldn-t-learn-the-sequel/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-kid-who-wouldn-t-learn-the-sequel/As Billy sat in the principal’s office, he was overcome with foreboding. He was trying to process that he was not going to matriculate. Suddenly the office was filled with a great light that blinded him. The principal’s office was nowhere to be seen. He couldn’t see anything. He felt that he was…Sat, 01 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-kid-who-wouldn-t-learn-the-movie/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-kid-who-wouldn-t-learn-the-movie/In the maternity ward, Billy’s mom gazed down on Billy snuggled in her arms. He was perfect. She loved him with all her heart. He would have the best. Nothing was too good for Billy. At home, she loved watching him grow and learn. His smile was infectious. All her friends loved him. When it was time…Thu, 15 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-problem-with-free-will/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-problem-with-free-will/Recently, I had the pleasure of a wide-ranging interview with Rodger Nichols of Cover to Cover Book Beat. At one point, he asked how a creator, who loves us, could enable others’ free will to harm us. After a bit of discussion, I admitted I don’t know. You can listen to the whole interview at Del H…Thu, 01 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/summer-must-reads/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/summer-must-reads/The days are getting longer. Summer vacation is just around the corner. Can there be any better time to check out this summer’s must-reads? This year’s must-read winner is The Sayings of Jesus which is the Appendix of Discovering Life’s Purpose. What makes this work a must-read? It’s that it…Mon, 15 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-if-you-could-really-know-your-purpose/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-if-you-could-really-know-your-purpose/From time to time do you question, “Why am I here?” Does the question nag at you until you are able to put it aside? At other times do you question, “What am I doing here? Is what I am doing really what I want or is it leaving me unfulfilled just as every other pursuit in my life has?” Do you…Mon, 01 May 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-do-we-rid-ourselves-of-mass-shootings/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-do-we-rid-ourselves-of-mass-shootings/According to the Gun Violence Archive, the annual rate of mass shootings in the US has been in the 600’s since 2020 – almost double that of the average in the 2010 decade. According to Statista, the annual rate of homicides in Canada in 2016 virtually tied a 2004 record of 224 and, by 2021, it had…Sat, 15 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-must-we-internalize-the-word-of-god/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-must-we-internalize-the-word-of-god/In How Must We Prepare for the Heaven Beyond Earth?, we discovered that God Incarnate taught that our preparation for heaven must include our internalization of the Word of God. That leaves us with the question, “Why?”. Haven’t we learned enough about God’s Word through the Lord’s Prayer and The…Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-must-we-prepare-for-the-heaven-beyond-earth/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-must-we-prepare-for-the-heaven-beyond-earth/In What Do We Know About the State of Heaven?, we reminded ourselves of how reasoning, spiritualism and religion all establish our knowledge Jesus Christ was God Incarnate. Armed with that certain knowledge, we explored what Jesus taught us about what heaven is like and how we can experience it on…Wed, 15 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-do-we-know-about-the-state-of-heaven/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-do-we-know-about-the-state-of-heaven/In Can We Experience Heaven on Earth, we established that heaven is a state rather than a place. Should we pursue how we can know what it’s like and how we can experience it on Earth? Where can we turn? In How Can a Man be God? and in Video 25 – Why do many people dismiss the claim that Jesus is the…Wed, 01 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-you-know-you-know/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-you-know-you-know/One of this blog’s readers raised an issue with its December 1 post – Must We Set Aside the Bible to Discover Life’s Meaning? His point was. “…the inconsistencies and contradictions in the Bible (which are the result of its fallible human authors) are just the type of thing that NR (non-religious)…Wed, 15 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/can-we-experience-heaven-on-earth/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/can-we-experience-heaven-on-earth/Can we experience heaven on earth? Well, no, if heaven is a place somewhere beyond Earth. But we have already established that Heaven Is Not a Place. If heaven is a state of being, what can stop us from achieving this state of being while we are on Earth? Quite a few things, really! Unreasonable…Wed, 01 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/heaven-is-not-a-place/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/heaven-is-not-a-place/As a child, were you taught that heaven is a place above the clouds where God sits on His throne. Were you also taught that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole with eight tiny reindeer (lately joined by a mutant red-nosed one!)? Have you dismissed both teachings? If so, you have the support of…Sun, 15 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/2023-s-top-five-new-year-s-resolutions/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/2023-s-top-five-new-year-s-resolutions/It’s that time again. Do you (still) make New Year’s resolutions? If not, is it because you know they have a very short shelf life? Is it because you find you keep making the same ones? Are they curtailing something like candy, alcohol, watching TV or surfing too much? Or do you resolve to do…Sun, 01 Jan 2023 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/a-christmas-bedtime-story/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/a-christmas-bedtime-story/Once upon a time, the Great Power, experiencing a profound sense of loneliness, realized that it had felt this way as long as it could remember (which was, of course, what we call eternity!) and that the reason it felt lonely was that nothing existed. The Great Power was beyond existence, all alone.…Thu, 15 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/must-we-set-aside-the-bible-to-discover-life-s-meaning/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/must-we-set-aside-the-bible-to-discover-life-s-meaning/NR The Bible cannot be the Word of God because of its errors, lack of supporting facts and the impossible feats it relates. R The Bible must be the Word of God because God needed a means of teaching His Word. In his book, Jesus for the Non-Religious, John Shelby Spong presents an admirably…Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-it-time-to-relearn-learning/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-it-time-to-relearn-learning/Do you feel pretty confident that you know the answer to life’s meaning? How did you come to this knowledge? Did you not observe every clue you could discover, learn what they tell you and, when satisfied, accept the knowledge you arrived at? Let’s face it. That’s the only way any of us come to know…Tue, 15 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/who-cares-if-the-eucharist-is-real/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/who-cares-if-the-eucharist-is-real/According to the New Testament, at The Last Supper, Jesus Christ transformed bread and wine into His body and blood and commanded His disciples to “do this in memory of me”. Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Lutheran and Anglo-Catholic churches teach that, when they use Jesus’…Tue, 01 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-you-know-jesus-miracles-were-real/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-you-know-jesus-miracles-were-real/Do you find the New Testament miracles hard to accept? For most of my life, I did. My skepticism led me to dismiss them. Are they not pretty easy to dismiss when we have never experienced anything like them? But are we simply finding it easier to discount than to try to understand? Are the stakes…Sat, 15 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-a-man-be-god/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-a-man-be-god/Christianity is primarily based on the tenet that Jesus Christ, its founder, is God Incarnate. How can a mere man be God? Is this claim nothing more than Christianity’s trump card? If they can substantiate their claim, are not all other religions inferior at best? Would it not mean that only…Sat, 01 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-the-bible-be-the-word-of-god/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-can-the-bible-be-the-word-of-god/Christians insist the Bible is the Word of God. How can they maintain that when the Bible is full of errors? How can any of us accept their claim? If God didn’t talk to the Bible’s authors, how could what they wrote be the Word of God? What if the Bible is simply its authors’ interpretation of God’s…Thu, 15 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-bad-things-happen-to-good-people/Have bad things ever happened to you or someone you love? Does it make you question whether your creator really loves us? How could a creator that loves you and all its children sit idly by while exposing us to every catastrophe and horror one can imagine? Might we think of bad things in two…Thu, 01 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/are-you-tired-of-being-told-what-to-think/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/are-you-tired-of-being-told-what-to-think/Before publishing my first book – Discovering Life’s Purpose – in 2018, a friend kindly read a prepublication manuscript. When his wife learned what he was doing, she asked, “What’s he trying to do – convert the world?” When I learned what she had asked, I reflected on her question. It occurred to…Mon, 15 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/have-you-met-the-prodigal-son/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/have-you-met-the-prodigal-son/Have you ever met the prodigal son? You know who I’m referring to, right? You know, the dude who squandered his whole inheritance and then returned to his father with his tail between his legs! If you haven’t met him, you probably at least know the story. Once he reflected that he had a lot of money…Mon, 01 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-it-responsible-to-doubt/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-it-responsible-to-doubt/Is there anything in your life about which you are plagued with doubt? For example, do you doubt that there is life after death. Even if you soundly believe that there is, can you be sure? After all, if there were, of the billions of people who have died, wouldn’t at least one of them have turned up…Fri, 15 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/are-you-victimized-by-doubt/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/are-you-victimized-by-doubt/Are you victimized by doubt? If so, you’re not alone. Let’s see how doubt about the meaning of life applies to any doubt we experience. Only two minority groups have immunized themselves against doubt about the meaning of life. They’ve both achieved this using their unwavering belief. Fervent…Fri, 01 Jul 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-the-hell/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-the-hell/Is there such a thing as hell? Of course, if you have concluded that there is no creator or afterlife, then the question is moot. But how sure are you of your conclusion? Are you open to testing it against reason-based thinking? If so, you’ll find some thought-provoking thinking in the Meaning of…Wed, 15 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-s-religion-got-to-do-with-it/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/what-s-religion-got-to-do-with-it/This question came up in a recent discussion, with a friend, about life’s meaning. After many such discussions he finally told me that he despaired of ever being able to adopt religion. He reads countless articles by atheists claiming there is no creator. When I offered him sound reasoning…Wed, 01 Jun 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/do-christians-get-a-free-pass/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/do-christians-get-a-free-pass/Most Christians feel that their faith assures them that, at their deaths, they will be forgiven all their shortcomings and will immediately be welcomed into heaven. Do not pass hell. Do not collect any baggage. They feel that their belief in Jesus Christ promises them this. Their churches assure…Sun, 15 May 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-would-you-rate-your-complacency/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/how-would-you-rate-your-complacency/Would you agree that nothing in life is anywhere near as important as achieving life’s meaning? Because life has no do-overs, can you afford any complacency about it? Do you agree with many that life ends at death and therefore life’s meaning is earthly fulfillment?Are you open to reasoning that…Sun, 01 May 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/do-you-have-enough-faith-to-be-an-atheist/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/do-you-have-enough-faith-to-be-an-atheist/Faith is the last thing of which most people would accuse atheists! Would you be surprised to learn that faith is a prerequisite of atheism? Why is this? Have you ever discovered a scientific proof that there is no creator? No? Could it be that there is not, and can never be any proof? Why not?…Fri, 15 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/purgatory/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/purgatory/Wrath, fear, punishment, atrocities, vengefulness, genocide, abominations, iniquity – sound like what makes up TV drama? Actually, it’s what comprises much of God’s Word in the Old Testament of the Bible. For many, the Bible gives religion a bad name. Fortunately, the teachings of Jesus – mercy…Fri, 01 Apr 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/a-universe-from-nothing/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/a-universe-from-nothing/In 2012, Lawrence Krauss published his ground-breaking scientific treatise entitled, A Universe from Nothing. In an Afterword of one edition, Richard Dawkins claims that Krauss’ science is the knock-out blow to a creator. Is he right? I believe that you, after reading this post. will conclude he is…Tue, 15 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-neighbour-in-the-greatest-commandment/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-neighbour-in-the-greatest-commandment/Have you heard Jesus’ parable of The Good Samaritan? He told it as an illustration of what The Greatest Commandment means by loving your neighbour as yourself. Although it is the best known, it is only one of His many teachings about loving your enemies. In the parable, although the Jews hated the…Tue, 01 Mar 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/all-the-alls-in-the-greatest-commandment/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/all-the-alls-in-the-greatest-commandment/Have you ever noticed how many all’s there are in The Greatest Commandment? Have you ever reflected on what it means to love your God with all your heart, all your strength and all your mind? Might all mean all? If you are a person that claims to love God, how would you describe your love for your…Tue, 15 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-treasure-of-intimacy/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-treasure-of-intimacy/Are you longing for intimacy? Has it alluded you? Has its absence left you feeling alone? Or have you experienced intimacy only to have it evaporate, seemingly forever? Are you still enjoying an intimate relationship but hungering for an increase in the intimacy you share? What is intimacy? Is it…Tue, 01 Feb 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/could-free-will-be-your-most-dangerous-gift/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/could-free-will-be-your-most-dangerous-gift/Do you think of free will as a gift from your creator? After all, isn’t everything you experience a gift from your creator? And what a huge grab bag of gifts it is! Your life, your sight, your hearing, your sense of smell, your taste, your sense of touch, your energy, your health, your body’s…Sat, 15 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-there-more/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-there-more/Do you sometimes feel uneasy about how your life is playing out? Does your life sometimes seem to be “same old, same old”? Do you sometimes feel like you’re just going through the motions? Do you sometimes feel bored and mildly dissatisfied? Do these times tend to occur when you’re alone with…Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/will-you-see-the-end-of-the-world/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/will-you-see-the-end-of-the-world/You have probably come across at least one prediction of the end of the world. You can google "wikipedia predictions of the end of the world" to view a list of the many made each century since Jesus made the first recorded prediction. Of course, not one of these has happened and thus, most of us…Wed, 15 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-your-creator-awaiting-a-response-to-its-constant-outreach/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-your-creator-awaiting-a-response-to-its-constant-outreach/In Why Our Creator Keeps Itself Hidden From Us, it seemed that our creator was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, it can’t confront us with its magnificence, by showing itself or talking to us, without reducing us to puppets and taking away our free will to choose to love it. On the…Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-our-creator-keeps-itself-hidden-from-us/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-our-creator-keeps-itself-hidden-from-us/What can we learn about our creator from our experience as procreators? Do you want your children to love you as you love them? Does every intentional and capable procreator, of whom you are aware, not want their children to love them as they love their children? Does it not follow that every…Mon, 15 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-creator/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-creator/What do we know of our creator? Might it be the elephant in the room? In the movie, Jumbo, Jimmy Durante, leading a live elephant, is stopped by a police office who asks, “What are you doing with that elephant?” Durante replies, “What elephant?” Like Durante, many don’t see the elephant in the room.…Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/lookin-for-love/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/lookin-for-love/Do you feel lonely? Were you left alone after a relationship breakup? Have you not yet found the right partner? Do you worry that you may never find a genuine, intimate relationship? Could you, like Johnny Lee, be looking for love in all the wrong places? “Well, I spent a lifetime lookin' for you…Fri, 15 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-is-the-creation-of-every-human-dependent-on-us/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/why-is-the-creation-of-every-human-dependent-on-us/Did our creator create you and everything else in existence? Does it build into everything it creates the ability to reproduce itself? For example, each plant produces seeds some of which automatically grow into copies of themselves through the fertilization process our creator built into it. Each…Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/become-at-one-with-creator/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/become-at-one-with-creator/Become At One With Creator is the crowning stage in The Seven Stages of Discovering Life’s Purpose. In Stage Six – Adopt Creator’s Will, you place achieving your creator’s will ahead of everything else in your life. You do everything in a way that achieves your creator’s will to the best of your…Wed, 15 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/adopt-creator-s-will/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/adopt-creator-s-will/Is your knowledge of your creator’s will certain? Does that lead you to try to make your creator’s will your will? If so, you are in the Adopt Creator’s Will stage in The Seven Stages of Discovering Life’s Purpose. If not, you are stuck flipping back and forth between Stage Four and Stage Five. In…Wed, 01 Sep 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/know-creator-s-will/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/know-creator-s-will/Are you, or someone you love, at the point where you know your creator’s will without doubt and with strong conviction? If so, you (or they) have reached Stage Five – Know Creator’s Will in The Seven Stages of Discovering Life’s Purpose. If not, you (or they) are stuck in The Mid Stages: Reject…Sun, 15 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-mid-stages-reject-practice-and-question-childhood-teachings/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-mid-stages-reject-practice-and-question-childhood-teachings/At what point did you decide for yourself what you would do about what you were taught as a child? It was at that point that you moved to The Mid Stages of The Seven Stages of Discovering Life's Purpose. Since the middle of the last century, most people (especially those in developed countries)…Sun, 01 Aug 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/accept-childhood-teachings/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/accept-childhood-teachings/Accept Childhood Teachings is the first stage in The Seven Stages of Discovering Life’s Purpose. Did you, like most children, accept without much thought, whatever you were taught about life’s purpose? Were you taught by parents, your school, your church or even your peers? Roughly 85% of the…Thu, 15 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-seven-stages-of-discovering-life-s-purpose/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-seven-stages-of-discovering-life-s-purpose/Is the meaning of your life something for you to determine or has it already been established by your creator? After all, would not your creator’s will be the purpose of what it created? If so, does it not follow that you need to discover the purpose of your life rather than try to determine it?…Thu, 01 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-seven-stages-of-grief/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/the-seven-stages-of-grief/Are you struggling with processing your grief over the loss of a dear one? Do you feel lost and rudderless? Have you faced the daunting challenge of comforting someone who has experienced such a profound loss? Did you struggle with how to best help them? Would you value a model that helps you…Tue, 15 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMThttps://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-the-meaning-of-life-hiding-in-plain-sight/https://www.delhsmith.com/blog/is-the-meaning-of-life-hiding-in-plain-sight/Have you settled on a meaning of your life when, all along, it had already been predetermined? Are you still searching for the predetermined meaning of your life while, all along, it has been hidden in plain sight? If you were to discover it, could you be assured that you have it right? These…Tue, 01 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT