You'll all recognize this as the answer to "Life, the Universe, and Everything."
Well, I'm going to answer some of the questions I have long asked with new answers.
What is the purpose of reading a book? Loving God.
Any book? Yes, any licit entertainment, though some facilitate this more than others.
Is there no other purpose? All other purposes are secondary. And that leads to the real surprise.
The only real purpose to any human activity, properly considered, should be loving God. Not "should be" in the adjuring sense, but "should be" in the ambitious sense. Our goal should ultimately be that all of our recreations, our works, our thoughts, and our endeavors give praise and glory to God in such a way that, in the words of Jesus Christ, Superstar,
"Why waste your breath moaning at the crowd,
nothing can be done to stop the shouting,
if every tongue were still the noise would still continue,
the rocks and stones themselves would start to sing
Hossanah, Heyssanah, sannah sannha ho, sannah he, sannah hosannah. . .
In the somewhat more time-honored words of Paul, "Every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."
It is the proper end of all of our actions that this should come about. When we orient ourselves and our days properly, even the time we spend away from work and away from direct participation in the spiritual and corporeal acts of mercy contributes to their success. Our downtime is never down because it is spent glorifying God.
So, what is the purpose of reading a book? Praising God.
What is the purpose of cooking a meal? Praising and glorifying God. A single hot dog cooked with attention and with love is more meaningful and more worthwhile than all of the grand feasts cooked under duress and oppression.
What is the meaning of life, the universe, and everything? Praising and glorifying God and leading all souls to salvation, especially those in most need of God's mercy.
All of our acts should be ordered to the end of loving God--all good things used to His just and right purposes. All that we have, all that we are, all that we do, all that we think, everything has one End in Jesus Christ. The legitimate means are many and varied, but the end is always the same--the Glorification of the Son whose glory is the glory of the Father and the Holy Spirit, three-in-one, transcendent trinity of love.
