2 minute read
People pursue the ultimate meaning by many pathways. A sampling of the more well-known trails are bolstering the well-being of one’s ancestral tribe, maximizing pleasureful experiences, serving others self-sacrificially, submitting to God’s will, rejoining the Oneness of the universe, living in harmony with the natural world, achieving autonomy from the constraints imposed by external power structures, creating and then fulfilling your own personalized meaning, and attaining personal consciousness. Clearly there are many options spanning from sacred to secular.
At the risk of trying to sound like a mountaintop guru from Tibet, I’ve slowly come to believe the meaning of human life is best captured by one word: connection. More specifically, it’s about our connection with God,1 with others, and with the natural world. Put in more lofty theological language, we’re intended to commune with our awe-inspiring Creator, with other beloved people who are incredibly made in God’s image, and with the pure beauty and majesty of creation itself. I see this as the umbrella vision under which many other wise paths best find expression.
Based upon my study of philosophy and world religions, many people think the meaning of life must lie deep within ourselves OR outside of ourselves. All these different belief systems keep saying it’s one or the other. In my (hopefully) humble opinion, that’s a false dichotomy. It’s both! This journey may begin with an effort to “know thyself” through inward silence, stillness, and solitude, but it must become manifest in our outward interaction with God, others, and the world. It’s only when we genuinely open up our inner-selves and reach outside that we encounter the intersection of the internal and the external, and we experience the fullness of our humanity.
As the 2nd century church father, St. Irenaeus of Lyons, once put it, “The glory of God is the human being fully alive.” It is the spiritual movement from separation to connection. This is the food and drink of the soul by which we experience human flourishing. It’s also deeply Trinitarian. For much of Christian culture it makes no difference whatsoever if our faith is one of absolute monotheism like Islam or the dynamic monotheism we see in the divine dance of eternal, perfect fellowship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yet there again is our model for connection.
The original beatniks were on a quest for meaning and purpose. They sought a holistic path that brought together the artistic, emotional, intellectual, physical, sexual, social, and spiritual realms of life as a harmonious centripetal force. Instead of the condescending or patronizing tone of traditional Christian apologetics where it sure is too bad they never found what they were looking for, my aim is to respect their insights and honor their journeys. Jesus followers genuinely have a lot we can learn and integrate from the Beat Generation. They were imperfect, but aren’t we all?
As a Christian, I think of this with a Trinitarian understanding of God. Others might prefer the language of Allah, the spiritual realm, a cosmic force, Higher Power, or the like. It’s all good. We might disagree but I think this flexibility opens up some interesting avenues of conversation.↩
