What matters most in life must be life.  That is, consciousness made into matter and our material selves in turn, made into the thoughts and questions this very title provokes.  If there is meaning, it comes from our life source connected to all being and beings.

Most people will say their children matter more than anything else in life.  This is a very unsatisfactory answer for those who are unable to have children, or who have lost all their children.  Do we say to those people, all your children are dead, your life has no meaning and you should commit suicide? That could not be right.

Some will say their love of God matters most. God said, (if we are to believe the western bible), that what you do for the least on earth is what matters to Him/Her. This sounds a bit more realistic.

I feel I have to go with Einstein on this one.  What he said, and I am certain that He existed, (whereas the existence of God has long been debated) that we should learn to live together, not just humans, but all of life.  Einstein said that increasing our circle of compassion to other life forms, is what matters.

In other words, life matters.  Life is of course dependent upon death and minerals, and soil, and so many other components, it is virtually inseparable from matter.  Some believe in the soul, but if we have no soul, why should we scurry about on earth saving up for the hereafter? Living for a future heaven is a foolish thing to do, celebrate what is here now. Cherish it.

In every meaningful way the only thing that could ever matter is that living organisms have the only moment in time that is real, this one, to be and to bloom. Therefore, it is imperative that we support with extreme appreciation and compassion, the flowering of life that is here right this moment.

The past is gone so it does not exist. The future  may not come, we may die any moment here. But this moment exists.  Living things are suffering this very moment. Not all of them are living in the same sense as one another.  A river is made of many things, but a river can die. We should have compassion, and do right by that river.  The same can be said of a nation, a forest, a colony of priceless bees that pollinate, or an artic wilderness where two polar bear cubs are struggling against global warming to survive. We could say in a very real sense that weather has a life, it certainly is imperative to life, and so of course, is the sun and the moon.

Suddenly, the cosmos is very big, and I think that is the point.  We are the cosmos.  We are life.  We are here and we matter.  We and all of life and what becomes life matters, and we all are one.  We cannot be without the whole woven tapestry. There is no us against them, no heaven against hell, there is just US, and we are given to one another to cherish, worship, appreciate, and celebrate our unity.