Victor Frankl was a Jewish psychiatrist who, after spending time in the Auschwitz concentration camp, wrote a book entitled Man’s Search for Meaning. The book is famous for describing the difference in the concentration camp between those who had some kind of meaning and those who gave up hope. The difference being that those who lost hope were ultimately the first to succumb to the hostilities of the camp and lose their lives.
In today’s rising tide of meaninglessness, Frankl’s ideas appear to be validated by medical studies. Numerous reports show the difference that people live longer and are less likely to suffer from various diseases if they live for a purpose, and even one doctor labelled the lack of it, a “social and public health problem.” This is heartbreakingly sad. To think that people live shorter and less healthy lives because they don’t have anything to live for. But beyond the obvious power of purpose, one has to ask if there is an objective, or “true for everyone” kind of purpose that exists. The answer is yes, and we all know it in part, even if we can’t put words to it.
LIVING FOR MORE THAN WHAT THIS WORLD CAN OFFER
The famed author C.S. Lewis writes about it like this,
“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for these desires exists. A baby feels hunger; well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim; well, there is such a thing as water. Men feel sexual desire; well, there is such a thing as sex. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Lewis’ argument here, is that deep down within ourselves, there exists an intuition about something bigger and greater than ourselves. We also experience a longing for some kind of joy and fulfillment that cannot be met here on earth. Within the deep spaces of our hearts, we know we were made for this ultimate ground of being—the joy from the other world. Whether you agree with Lewis or not, I believe we can all attest to the essential truth of what he’s saying here. We all want the kind of happiness that leaves us satisfied, satiated and full, but sooner or later, we find that whatever earthly pleasure we think is going to fill that void, leaves us disappointed and empty. Living for earthly highs really is just a more broad based kind of addiction. We’re all searching for the same kind of excitement we got from that first hit-whatever the “hit” might be. But what, or where, is the pleasure that puts to rest all other searches for excitement? The answer to that question leads us to our life’s “telos,” or ultimate goal. It is the crown we all were meant to wear.
I used to give this illustration to youth and young adults during my outreaches. If we think of a material object, like a lightbulb, or guitar, we come to know its purpose by understanding why it was invented or made in the first place. The creator of that object usually defined its purpose. Lightbulbs were invented to offer light, not create music, and guitars were created to make music, not to keep us from stubbing our toes in the middle of the night. If the inklings and desires of our hearts point us to a place beyond our present life, perhaps they point to what we were made for in the first place-love. But who are we supposed to love, and where are they?
DESIGNED FOR DIVINE LOVE
In the Christian Bible, we are pointed to the source of our existence and an explanatory framework that helps us understand why life is the way it is. We are told that God has “set eternity in the human heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11), and that despite our distance from God, it is natural for us to “reach out for him and find him” (Acts 17:27). The many predictions foretelling the death of religion have been proven wrong time and time again as sociologists now see how fundamental religion is to human nature. Throughout every era and in every geographical location, it has always been natural for us to perceive some kind of higher power who gave shape to our world. The many world religions are a living testament to this phenomenon, but they more often than not, seem to only be examples of searching and not finding. The distant, vague and inconclusive nature of God discussed in these traditions demonstrates this.
In Jesus though, we find a reliable, historical and persuasive picture of God who fills in the other half of our search for meaning. He shows us how God not only created us with this deep longing, but how we can meet Him personally for ourselves. Jesus claimed to be the ultimate revealer of our God and told us what our Creator had in Mind when He birthed us from the dust. Our purpose is illustrated in what Jesus said was the forefront of God’s desire for humanity-love. When He was challenged as to what the most important commandment in all of scripture was, He simply replied that it was to “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and [u]foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments [v]hang the whole Law and the Prophets” (Matthew 22:37-40).
Jesus said that the most important commandment from our Creator, part of the fundamental reason He gave us existence, is because He desires us to love Him. If lightbulbs were designed by inventor Joseph Swan (not Thomas Edison as popularly thought) to light up a room, then people were designed to love God. When we enter into God’s transcendent love, we do what we were created for and ultimately find that our inherent desire for transcendent love is met.
If you’re ever feeling confused about why you’re here, what your purpose is or what life is really all about, we encourage you to look down the road that points to God’s love and explore whether what this article is saying is true. Is the love that you seek found in measures of worldly success? Or are C.S. Lewis and others correct when they say that our desires can only be met by someone outside of ourselves? If you need help to do this, or would like to learn more, we’re here for you.