the four causes.

Aristotle was a remarkable fellow.  I was reading a little bit about his "four causes"...

1. Material cause - the elements out of which an object is created.
2. Efficient cause - the means by which it is created.
3. Formal cause - the expression of what it is.
4. Final cause - the end for which it is.

An example would be a bicycle.  Its causes are:

1. Metal, rubber, etc.
2. Created by someone who knows how to make bicycles.  (a bikesmith..?)
3. It's a bike.  Look at the picture.
4. It was made so that someone could get to school faster or have fun riding down a mountain, and so that the bikesmith could make money.

Thanks to the research of many brilliant people, we know much of our material, efficient, and formal causes.  The part that we can't quite figure out -- or at least agree on -- is our final cause.  To what end have we been made?  To those of us who have learned of God's plan and purposes for us, that seems like a given.  But I invite all of you to look again.  You may not know the details, but if you know what your final cause is, the reason for your existence, be thankful.  And be happy.

After all... "men are, that they might have joy."