reward

 If you believe that intelligence made this universe, and everything in it, you have to believe that everything has a purpose. Much has come and gone over millennia, so I can only assume they served their purpose and are no longer required. That would include plants, animals, environment, and indeed human beings. I mean it would make no sense for intelligence to create all of this for no reason whatsoever, for its' own amusement. Personally I label that intelligence, God. Yes, I was instructed in that theory, that belief. Call it a hypothesis if you like. Belief and reality are often different things entirely. What is most important to man is his belief! For it is belief that motivates man. No matter the desired result, it is belief that motivates. 

 With man the objective is not to fulfill that purpose and be done, no, we expect a reward for doing so. That is the basis for the idea of life after death. I can see no other explanation for that. We just can't be content with being. Why should we behave in accordance with societal norms if there is no reward for doing so? Why not just act as we please? Beyond the obvious, we could be ostracized, isolated, persecuted, imprisoned or killed, what is the motivation to comply? A promise of something more is the answer. Something beyond death. The continuation of life, only better than life! Yes, we want something more. 

 Now we are just a tool in the universe. We are here for a purpose. When that purpose has been fulfilled, we are gone. That is a pragmatic approach to life. It doesn't mean our purpose wasn't important, that we didn't matter, but it does remove the reward. It is the removal of reward that troubles us, we feel used. Would a God create us just to use us for his/her purpose? Well, he/she might create us for a purpose, in fact I believe that is the case. Do I need to know that purpose? No, I don't need to know that purpose to fulfill that purpose. I'm not the one in control here. Still the intelligence that created me also gave me the ability to think, to reason, and to wonder. I'm not a robot, dedicated to a single purpose, a single function. For that reason I do not have a single purpose, I have many. I was also given the ability to enjoy the wonders around me. Perhaps that alone is the reward. Perhaps instead of receiving one big reward the reward is seeing a sunrise over the water, a bird sitting on a limb or the smile of your grandchildren. Perhaps those things are the reward. In those things I do find motivation. As for belief, the best I can offer is the statement, I believe. I believe I'm here for a reason, to serve a purpose, perform some function that is indispensable. After all, an intelligent being wouldn't create something for no reason whatsoever. Life is mine to enjoy, my purpose is beyond my control. When a craftsman creates an object, does the object expect a reward? Well the craftsman may admire the object, and for the object, that is enough.