hese things. With a belief in God’s existence, this extends a responsibility to reflect His qualities, His nature, and His appreciation for balance. Our belief in God will have a huge impact on the meaning of life. Tolstoy realized this when he wrote “I was inevitably led to recognize that all living humanity had a certain other irrational knowledge, faith, which made it possible to live” (p. 396). He concludes that it was this realization “was life itself and that the meaning given to this life was truth, and I accepted it.”This is truly the challenge. Being the self-aware species that we are, we must accept that a belief in God would supersede our own selfish desires. Rather, we would mould our goals to account for our belief in God, and allow this combination of motives to guide our consciousness and direction throughout life.Critics would charge that this would amount to a mindless existence, simply living to please God and nothing more. Again, I would challenge critics, because they do not accept a balanced view of how a belief in God can positively benefit life’s meaning. Kurt Baier describes a theist’s meaning of life as “to resign oneself cheerfully to one’s lot; to be filled with awe and veneration in regard to anything and everything that happens; to want to fall on one’s knees and worship and praise the Lord” (p. 380).This does not present a balanced view of a life that is influenced by a belief in God. A God that we have described here, of balance and fairness, would not give a person life and then expect them to not live, except by mindlessly fulfilling religious routines. Our God of balance would want us to appreciate Him and love Him, but to live our lives within the expectations of self-actualization that each conscience directs.From the standpoint of fairness, how fair would it be to give a human being ambition, a dedication to excellence, gifts ...
