OPINION
I love reading biographies of various people throughout history.
When you read about people who lived centuries and cultures apart, certain patterns emerge.
Not everyone has a proper biography written about them, but a funeral can be a concise biography.
In both cases, the same question is presented: What did this person’s life mean?
Every human who has ever lived is confronted with this same question, whether they are a world leader, or a quiet homebody.
What a fascinating equalizer... the search for meaning.
And, still, the bills, texts, soccer practices, and dance recitals remain.
But, that nagging, unanswered question still calls to us: Does my life add up to something more than constant distractions and collected busy days?
That’s because the search for meaning is the most human question.
Victor Frankl, holocaust survivor and psychologist, noted how a sense of purpose can help people get through the hardest of times and how we all search for meaning.
Our modern culture offers cheap substitutes for lasting meaning.
Some seek achievement. Others spend their days trying to gain influence and wealth.
Entertainment and comfort can offer a nice distraction from the question of meaning.
While political identity can likewise provide a sense of belonging and the feeling that one is on the “right side” of history.
While these are not necessarily bad in their own right, they cannot provide the ultimate answer to purpose or meaning at the end of one’s life.
These can help us achieve our next goal, or even what project to tackle on the weekend, but they cannot answer the question of why we are here in the first place.
Many in our modern culture seek to ground meaning in performance, yet most cultures have recognized meaning is truly found by transcending one’s own self, looking beyond one’s own priorities and interests.
This is why family, community service, responsibility, virtue and self-sacrifice are enduring themes throughout historical biographies.
Any parent, teacher or volunteer can agree that the most meaningful moments in life are also the least self-centered.
This is not unique to one culture or time.
Philosophers, theologians and historians reveal that meaning and purpose oftentimes emerge when people look beyond themselves.
Jesus calls His audience to love God and love neighbor above all else in life, and upon these two hinge all the laws and commandments (Mark 12:30-31).
The Scriptures repeatedly reveal that life is designed to be something greater than individuals, that we are not merely cogs in a machine, or consumers of experiences. We are uniquely created to live within a larger story, a grand narrative of life, love and redemption. Throughout the biblical narrative themes of self-sacrifi ce, faithful service, hopeful endurance, and unconditional love appear again and again.
Our daily activities are not unimportant, but they can become dull distractions from the greater question sitting at our feet.
We would do well to take time to think beyond the comforts, entertainment, constant bombardment of information and searches for success.
The ancients frequently took time to consider why they wake each morning, in the first place.
They found their grounding in something that transcended their own lives, cultures and times.
Humans have always searched for meaning.
This humble author’s meaning is grounded firmly within the Scriptures’ claims that we are designed for a greater purpose, that although we fail daily, we have an offer of redemption and that reconciliation with the Creator is possible.
Yet, this is also a very personal and serious commitment that one must make for themself.
Every person is faced with the question of meaning, and every person is actively serving some ultimate purpose, whether they realize it.
The real question is whether you recognize the purpose you are serving and if that purpose can provide substantial grounding beyond the moment.
One day, someone will summarize our lives in a few stories, short videos and photographs.
When that day comes, what will those little snippets reveal about the ultimate purpose we were serving?
How will those stories point to the meaning we cling to?
Let us not wait to a future day to discover where the pieces fell.
Instead, let us consider what purpose is currently shaping our lives and whether that meaning is worthy to guide the years we have left.
Steve Stanley is a Providence Village resident with a doctorate in ministerial leadership with a platform on YouTube, https://www. youtube.com/@Formed-NotPerformed, and on Instagram, https://www.instagram. com/formed_not_ performed. He can be reached at [email protected].
