Recognizing the Big Picture when Contemplating Life

When we consider life itself, it is important to keep the big picture in mind. The fact of the matter is that we, as human beings, are both infinite creatures of eternal spirit and finite little specks tucked over in one small corner of the universe. This paradox, between the big picture and the individual life, is at the root of what it means to be human. This is but one of the ways that we must recognize the big picture when we are contemplating life.

There is another sense, though, in which we need to recognize the big picture when contemplating life. You see, what we believe, for example, about human nature or life cannot be isolated from the big picture. What we believe about human nature affects and is affected by what we believe about God, about the universe, about the soul, about destiny, about others, and even about the material world. You see, it is important that our beliefs, whether they have to do with something relatively small like politics or something relatively large like the meaning of life itself, are connected. When we forget the big picture, we wind up with all sorts of logical contradictions that become difficult to work our way out of.

When our contemplation of life becomes disconnected from the big picture, we run into problems. We begin to see ourselves as, in some ways, different from how we truly are. We see ourselves as too important, or as too insignificant. Keeping the big picture in perspective protects us both from self-loathing and from unnecessary pride. When we fail to recognize our place in the big picture, we run the risk of becoming psychologically trapped in an unreality of our own making.

The last sense in which we must recognize the big picture when contemplating life is that we must remember, regardless of our philosophical ruminations, that we have a life to live. We have to get up, go to work, eat, drink and sleep, regardless of what our contemplation brings us. There is a very real sense in which our contemplation must take a back seat to the actual living of our lives. In some ways, real life trumps contemplation of that life.