Finding Meaning, Purpose, and Value: II

Viktor Frankl aptly pointed out, "a firm sense of meaning is essential for optimal human development".

How do we find meaning in life?  If we are fortunate, we live 80-90 years, if we are extremely blessed, we live a relatively peaceful existence emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually.  But those types of lives are rare, even in Western culture.

What does meaning, mean then?  Solomon seems to imply that we find meaning in our existence through some type of work or calling.

"I know the best thing we can do is to always enjoy life because God's gift to us is the happiness we get from our food and drink and from the work we do" (Ecc 3:12 -13, CEV).

Yet Solomon also saw the injustices of life just as we do today.  We see people in the Middle East and other nations suffer for their faith.  Tortured, burned alive, beheaded, crucified.  Crucified?  Yes, in the 21st century Christians are reported to be crucified.  Here in America or other western "civilized" societies we know of adults being murdered by a spouse, children psychologically, physically or emotionally abused, people being killed by a self-driving car while the person behind the wheel trusted the care more than their intelligence.  That really happened in Arizona.  We may join Solomon in saying, "Everywhere on earth, I saw violence and injustice instead of fairness and justice" (Ecc 3:16).  Solomon also said that these events have been around for generations and would continue for multiple generations.

So how do we find meaning in our own lives as we navigate through the dark maze filled with so much injustice and abuse?

We can choose to join Solomon and declare that life is vanity and makes no sense, or we can choose to join Solomon and say that we can enjoy our work in this life.  In addition to Solomon’s words of wisdom, I propose that it is possible to find meaning in our lives by doing four things.

1) Taking the injustices, we have experienced, and turning them into a platform to help others and ourselves.  Learning about how these injustices begin, what motivates others to act unfairly, how can this new understanding help you personally and others directly.  Ask yourself, “If there were no other human being on earth would there still be injustice and unfairness?  If no, then learn all you can about the dynamics of relationships, sin, forgiveness, and justice.  If Yes, find out why you would be unjust towards yourself or cruel to yourself and then imagine being kind and forgiving towards yourself, after all, our Father is kind and forgiving toward you.

2) By accepting that injustice and unfairness are a part of life, but not ALL of life; and that there are times of justice and fairness, however brief they may last.  In other words, instead of chasing permanent justice and fairness to gain a sense of stability and contentment, learn to enjoy the times of fairness and justice that come our way with gratitude and keep working towards reducing injustices in society.

3) By understanding that we have a limited time here on earth and we can choose to habitually relive our abuses, injustices, and pain alone or we can relive our abuses, injustices and pain WHILE in recovery from them and adopt an attitude of stewardship towards others to help them recover also. Did you know that all of the fathers of psychology suffered from some type of family, psychological, or physiological injustice?  Freud’s relationship with his father was not the greatest, Jung suffered from some type of personality disorder or mental illness, Adler suffered from an inferiority disorder that began with a near-death experience as a young boy and a rivalry with his older brother, Martin Luther suffered from depression that was instigated by an overly strict father (you can understand how he focused on faith and grace versus works) and Martin Luther King Jr. suffered from the injustice of racial discrimination. All of these extraordinary human beings turned their injustices into beacons of light that helped lost human beings find their way in the darkness.  They didn't do it perfectly, but they did the best they could and consequently they blessed millions.  You see, human beings are in this together because none escape injustice and unfairness.  Solomon was extraordinarily rich and understood that everyone experiences the same injustice of death, so we should try and enjoy the time we have in this life.

How can you help others when you can barely help yourself?  Isn't this what makes your life seem meaningless at times?  This will lead to my final suggestion in a moment, but some suggestions are; you can join a recovery group for depression, alcohol, abuse, and just about every conceivable self-help group on can think of today.  Just attending the meetings can be the first step towards finding meaning to your existence.  That's because these support groups meet one of the most basic needs of human beings and is what helps us to find meaning in normal situations.  The need is the need to be accepted, loved, cared about, and believed in, coming from another human being or as Maslow’s pyramid of needs states the “need for safety, belongingness, esteem.  Maslow’s theory is related to learning theory which suggests strongly that the sense of meaningless in life is a learned behavior, and anything that is learned can be either unlearned or reinforced.  God designed families to develop and meet those needs in us as children, but if the family could not or did not supply that need then God can give you something like an adopted family to meet that need.

Psa 68:6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chain.

Job 29:12 When poor people or orphans cried out for help, I came to their rescue.

This begins the healing process and begins the acquirement of finding meaning for existence.  Jesus said give and it shall be given to you.  As you heal you can also begin helping others heal and in Gods amazing and mysterious way of doing things, your giving returns to you in the discovery of finding meaning to your existence.  It happens all the time and is part of Gods plan for people, "He comforts us when we are in trouble so that we can share that same comfort with others in trouble.  We share in the terrible sufferings of Christ, but also in the wonderful comfort he gives" (2Co 1:4-5, CEV).  This leads to point four.

4) Developing a trusting relationship on three dimensions.  With Jesus Christ, with at least one other human being, and with yourself in at least one area of your life.

I'll stop there and pick it up later and go into detail on point four later.

Blessing to all :)

Father, helps us to find meaning through the injustices of life, beginning with know you and developing a trust in your goodness that over-rides the injustices that occur in life.  Let us see that our lives have meaning when we step out with brave, if not uncertain, determination to develop trust and meet the need that you ordained we experience in this life; the need to be loved and secure in relationships with others.