There was a columnist at this paper when I started three-and-a-half years ago who always wrote about atheism.

In his final farewell column, he said that he could imagine no greater purpose in life than enjoying a bowl of cereal on a Saturday morning with his son.

Besides the fact that he didn’t have a son yet, or even a woman to give him one, I have remembered this claim as one of the most ridiculous things I have ever read.

Nearly every religion is comfortable with the idea that we are all children of God. Yet so many people cannot grasp the fact that we have within us the potential to “grow up.” A child is merely a being that develops until it is mature.

The idea that I would like to leave in my final column for this paper is that we are all capable of incredible development and maturity. That is the purpose of life.

While my education thus far at the U has been wonderful, it has not yet granted me sage, guru or magi status. So instead of outlining what I believe full development means or how to get there, I would rather focus on one thing that I know won’t get us there: addiction to entertainment.

During my LDS mission, every few months my president would announce a new rule to restrict what kinds of music we could listen to. Considering how a favorite song can lift a mood like nothing else, grumbling over these rules was rampant.

“You are not here to be entertained!” the president said. He repeated it again and again over several months.

Then finally it clicked it for me: My entire life was based around entertainment.

I worked so I could have money to be entertained. I went to school so I could get a better job to have more money to be entertained. I was patient through hard times because I knew that at some point, they would be over and I could be entertained. I looked forward to weekends and holidays so I’d have lots of time to be entertained.

My entire young life was centered on being entertained. What a waste.

Now I see it in all the people around me. The young men in Boy Scouts I sometimes help, the undergraduates in my classes and especially the stars and idols on television.

We must all realize that a desire for growth and improvement should drive every decision we make. Toys and games are for children; we should set our sights far higher.