It is ironic that the religious quest, which is supposed to be about the search for meaning, ends up so often in offering no answer to the question. Most people's vision of God makes their lives essentially meaningless. At best, they can make but one meaningful decision in life (to believe or not to believe), but all others are relegated to nothingness. For if God is truly in control of all that happens, then our lives make no difference. All we are and do is the result of divine puppetry, nothing more. God is, for most people, a being to whom we have nothing we can genuinely give anything at all.
So people have the choice of secular philosophies which offer as the only realm of meaning our contribution to a human condition which seems totally infected with sin and is under the ultimate sway of death, or religions that posit God as source of meaning but to whom we can offer nothing genuinely our own. Is it any wonder that feelings of meaninglessness ravage our society, which then turns to countless distractions and addictions?
There is a way out of this existential vacuum, but it takes complexity of thought and an openness to new ways. A hard sell in this world.
I have so much I would love to say here and can think of nothing better than: Thanks Josh. You have eloquently stated the true crisis of our time.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a forever, then God exists. And is God exists, then my actions matter.
ReplyDelete