HoHum:
Billy Graham was talking to Art Linkletter when Art mentioned that after he went to heaven, the evangelist would need to find a new line of work, a new purpose. A bit taken aback, Graham asked why. Art replied, “Well, they don’t really need preachers in heaven, do they?”
WBTU:
This is what happens to some people. Their mate dies, they lose their job/ their career, they lose their health so that they are unable to do what they used to do so they just give up. What used to give them meaning and purpose is gone so why try. Nothing left to live for.
Some people believe that the pursuit of meaning and purpose is in itself meaningless. Slavoj Zizek said this, “Life is a stupid meaningless thing that has nothing to teach you.” Brutal, but Zizek is trying to articulate his worldview that the quest for meaning is meaningless. Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychotherapy, believed that life is meaningless. To be mature, in the philosophy of Freud, was to accept the meaninglessness of life. Therapy, where the therapist is writing on a notepad with an aloof attitude while the therapee is talking on and on while lying on a couch, was an attempt to resist and repress the transcendent reality of existence. In other words, to counsel people into being mature by accepting that life has no meaning.
Shame because people need purpose. What causes some people to go on and thrive despite less that favorable circumstances? Think of those people who have lived and worked into their elderly years while smoking, drinking, using large amounts of lard and bacon grease, defying all modern health wisdom. What do they have in common? A will to keep living their own way and a sense of purpose, something that gets them out of bed in the morning. A big determiner of length and quality of life: will. The will to be able to contribute to something beyond themselves. Fists full of money is not going to do it because money on its own is meaningless. Family doesn’t do it because the whole idea of raising a family is so they can make it on their own. What keeps us moving forward, what gives our lives meaning, is purpose. After we are baptized, why don’t we just twiddle our thumbs until we enjoy our eternal reward? What keeps us here beyond the simple biological drive to survive? That’s a question not often asked but one worth answering. For most the answer is purpose. We have things we simply must accomplish on this earth, and we are not ready to go until we have done our best to accomplish them.
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl studied Freud and other philosophies of life. Then he was sentenced to the concentration camps, including the infamous extermination camp, Auschwitz, which he survived to tell about. In his book, MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING, Frankl makes the case that every individual is hard wired to search for the meaning of his own existence. He uses the example of his own experiences in the concentration camps to show how a sense of purpose can grant the ability to survive even under the most horrible circumstances. Frankl created a therapeutic process called “logotherapy” (say more about this later). Such therapy sessions center on helping the patient discover the meaning of his or her life. In this way, individuals discover their own unique significance.
Thesis: Logotherapy centers on 3 things
For instances:
1. Work
What do we want to contribute to the world through our work, through our career? Find work that gives us meaning, makes a significant contribution to ourselves and others with our abilities, talents and experiences. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” Ecclesiastes 9:10, NIV. “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15, NIV. Work is not a curse, the curse made work a drudgery but we were made to work, to do something. Right work
2. Relationships
“The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”” Genesis 2:18, NIV. Jesus said in the Great Commandment- Love the Lord your God, in Old Covenant tied up with parents loving their children.
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” Deuteronomy 6:4-7, NIV. Jesus in the Great Commandment- Love your neighbor
““‘love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 19:18, NIV.
“Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father, and do not go to your brother’s house when disaster strikes you--better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away.” Proverbs 27:10.
Right relationships- Find people that we love and go through life with them. Not good alone
Notice that this therapy is very God oriented, some say religiously focused. Frankl was a Jew and we can see him emphasizing a right relationship with God that is seen in right relationships with work, family and friends. Great but nothing earth shattering for us here- most religions... what makes Dr. Frankl's viewpoint so different from others, let's look at this last but most important point
3. Courage during difficult times
Suffering is meaningless until we meet it with courage, then we give our pain purpose and meaning. Joshua 1:6-7: Be strong and courageous- then in vs. 9-“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Most repeated admonition in the Bible is “Do not fear.”
What meaning can be conveyed through pain and suffering? Frankl says that no matter how bad things are, we can choose our reactions and our attitudes. He recalls this from the concentration camps: “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken away from a person but one thing: the last of the human freedoms- to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” Frankl says that through the power of our will we can have courage and not react in bitter or hateful way is the essence of meaning of life. Oh, I think that is so lacking in our society- how hard do we have it really?
To separate this therapy from all the other loco-therapies, let’s go back to the name of this therapy- logotherapy. Logos is Greek for meaning. Words convey meaning. “Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.” 1 Corinthians 14:10, NIV. The supreme or ultimate word for us is Jesus Christ. Dr. Frankl, use a New Testament word, how can you expect me to avoid it. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1, 14.
The Greek philosophers used the term “The Word” to designate the supreme principle of the universe and the Holy Spirit uses it here to talk about Jesus Christ.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”- John 14:6. What to know the meaning of life then look to God, more specifically to Jesus Christ, and His Word.
Pain without purpose leads to despair. Pain with purpose leads to healing and satisfaction.
“When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” John 19:30, NIV. He cried Tetelestai, This is often translated as it is finished and that is accurate. But that phrase was often used in New Testament times as an accounting term. It was written on a bill, on an account and it meant, “Paid in full.” It meant that account was now closed, the debtee no longer owed anything. The Bible is clear that Christ’s death on the cross was the full payment of a sin debt that we all owe.
“Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. As a result, he does not live the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.” 1 Peter 4:1, 2, NIV. “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” 1 Peter 4:19, NIV. Dr. Frankl- “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an {unavoidable} part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death, human life cannot be complete”
How can we have courage in the midst of evil, pain and suffering? “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.” 2 Timothy 2:11, 12, NIV. To reign with Christ means that we have a guarantee of participation in the royal government of the eternal kingdom. “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12, NIV.
We can have courage because we know that after this life we are going to the eternal kingdom and we will receive the crown of life. How can I be sure? Believe, confess, repent, be baptized.
Interesting that Dr. Frankl even uses the cross in his writings: “The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he TAKES UP HIS CROSS, gives him amply opportunity- even under the most difficult circumstances- to add a deeper meaning to his life."
Dostoevski said once, ‘There is only one thing that I dread, not to be worthy of my sufferings.’”
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,” Philippians 3:10, NIV.
Our suffering is nothing compared to Christ’s suffering. Viktor Frankl was fond of saying that the aim of his logotherapy was the healing of the soul, leaving to religion the salvation of the soul. Cannot have the one without the other? Through what Christ did, our souls are saved and healed. “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5.
“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’?”
