Nature has but one rule: survive.

Every creature on Earth is in a constant struggle for survival. Even you are, right now, in a competition with bacteria and viruses that aim to kill you — and would if your immune system shut down. It’s not a question of if you are in a struggle for survival, but only if you are aware of it. (For more context, I preached a sermon on this.)

For humans, our survival depends on our health, wealth, and power. For health, we can eat healthily, exercise, learn (education on its own improves health and longevity), and be happy (love, friendship, companionship, and community decrease stress and improve our health). But, if we do get sick, wealth can help us afford the best medical care, and it allows people to live in safer neighborhoods, eat healthier foods, afford beneficial supplements and preventative care, and typically be less stressed about finances, thereby improving happiness and health. Power is less relevant in a society with a strong rule of law — the law itself and the rights enshrined therein protect people from those who would otherwise be more powerful. But, when there is a breakdown in the rule of law, then power itself becomes incredibly important for survival: you don’t want to be under the power of a malicious person — that would not bode well for your long-term health and thus survival. In the most extreme scenario, if there was a king that ruled the world, you would want to be that king — to be otherwise would put you at constant mortal peril if the king were to, rightly or wrongly, become displeased with you. Those who live best by the dictates of nature thus seek health, wealth, and power.

And, yet, in this game and competition for survival, we are all — every living organism that has ever existed — destined to lose. We all die.

The rules of this world, then, are paradoxical: survive — for as long as you can. But to what end if we all die anyway? Health, wealth, and power are lost when we die. This game is rigged for us to fail.

Unless, perhaps, it was never about survival. If we can’t survive, then devoting our lives to doing so seems somewhat pointless. But now we are in the realm of belief. If you believe there is more to life than survival, you believe in the transcendent. Personally, I believe there is a higher purpose, not because I choose to believe it, but because I am convinced that there is.