The Pursuit of Meaning and Purpose – Can
it be found?
Where can we find meaning, not
just for the everyday things of life but for the real purpose of life itself?
In the twenty first century we are surrounded by experts and opinions, and it
is difficult to find sound and unbiased advice. Even those who proffer advice often
have questionably motives. Are they qualified to offer advice, do they really
know the answers themselves, or are they just clever wordsmiths, or salesmen
with a product seeking to profit from their works? This holds true for science,
philosophy, religion, and popular guides.
Consider the popular book, ‘How
to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie. Carnegie made a fortune
selling his books, his expertise, his self-improvement programs and his own
skills as a lecturer. His famous book was one of the best-selling books of the
last century. How qualified was Carnegie to write? Very qualified it seems. He
was a man who had many failures. He was a failed farmer, a failed actor, a
failed businessman, and a failed husband and father. Who better to take advice
from?
Certainly he was able to rise
from failure to material success and popularity; as he himself advised people
to "Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of
the surest stepping stones to success." Carnegie’s success came from advising
others how to live. His own example of failures and subsequent drive, entrepreneurial
skills and salesmanship made him a popular and wealthy man at the time of his
death.
Yet, we can’t avoid feeling that
something is missing. How can someone who was so unsuccessful in many basic
avenues of his own life make his fortune advising others how to live and
succeed? Are his words genuine, or are they just another product for sale? Do
they really make for a better person, or is there a level of superficiality
here that appeals to the popular desire for easy and simple answers? Moreover,
even if one followed his advice and achieved a level of recognised success, did
this really make a lasting difference and has the person really found the
meaning and purpose of life?
By way of contrast, let us
consider the words of Solomon, King of Israel, who lived about 3,000 years ago.
He was noted as the wisest man of his times. The Bible tells us that God gave
him wisdom beyond his contemporaries, which in itself tells us that wisdom has
always been a pursuit of man’s, just as Paul also stated in 1.Cor.1:22. Unfortunately, most of it has little to do
with the knowledge of God and is therefore of little value in the larger scheme
of things.
1.Kings.4:29-31. And God gave Solomon wisdom and exceedingly great
understanding, and largeness of heart
like the sand on the seashore. Thus
Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the men of the East and all the
wisdom of Egypt. For
he was wiser than all men—than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Chalcol, and
Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the surrounding nations.
This Solomon speaks of his search
for meaning and purpose in the book called Ecclesiastes, which is generally
attributed to him. He tells us that he had been given wisdom, riches and power,
and that he used the opportunity these things gave him to find the purpose of
life.
Eccl.1:13. And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom
concerning all that is done under heaven;
this burdensome task God has given to the sons of man, by which they may be exercised.
The book of Ecclesiastes goes on
to record his search for purpose in the everyday pursuits of life. Even
though he had at his disposal almost unlimited power and opportunity, in the
end Solomon could make no sense of it at all. There is no overriding justice or
fairness in the world at large, nor any innate purpose that could be found by
pursuing life’s pleasures. In fact he repeatedly speaks of the vanity or
emptiness he found in all of life’s pursuits, for ultimately time and mortality
will bring all our works, pursuits, fame, riches and achievements to nothing.
Eccl.8:14. There is a
vanity which occurs on earth, that there are just men to whom it happens
according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men to whom it
happens according to the work of the righteous. I said that this also is
vanity.
Eccl.9:11. I returned
and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill; But time and chance happen to them all.
Although Solomon himself may
appear to be frustrated by the overall vanity of life he does not say that
there is no purpose to life. He speaks both of the sense of fulfilment and
pleasure that comes from living an honest, modest and contented life (Eccl.2:24-26, 5:18-20, 9:7-9), but his primary
objective has been to find the overall purpose of human existence. To that
end, Solomon declares this purpose and speaks of it in his final words, when he
concludes –
Eccl.13:12.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God and keep His
commandments, For this is man’s all.
Here Solomon concludes that true meaning
is only to be found in knowing God and his purpose and ways, and by keeping his
words. This is man’s whole duty and purpose, man’s all. This conclusion is also
spoken of in other places in the Bible.
Jesus speaks in similar terms to
Solomon on the uncertainty of life. Bad things happen to people, and there is
no accounting for it. It is simply the product of time and chance, that is, the
work of chance happenings or the work of evil men. The following reference
demonstrates this -
Luke.13:1-5.
There were present at that season some who told Him
about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And
Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you
suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans,
because they suffered such things? I
tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those
eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt
in Jerusalem? I tell you, no;
but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
What Jesus is telling us is that
these things are part of the general uncertainty of life. We are all subject to
these uncertainties. In the main, these evil things do not come because some people
are worse or more evil than others. Jesus’ counsel is that we should use the
time we have to find the truths of God and repent. The word repent quite
literally means a change of mind or direction, and the direction Jesus recommends
involved hearkening to God’s counsel.
The Apostle Paul also speaks of
these things, where he states that God has made the world subject to vanity or
emptiness. This is a very important point and one we need to think carefully
about. Paul goes on to say that God has done this on purpose, so that people
might not set their focus or goals on this life, but look for greater meaning
by ultimately aligning themselves with God’s greater declared purpose, which is
called ‘hope’
in the following verse.
Rom.8:20. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but
because of Him who subjected it in hope;
In this regard, Jesus the great
master teacher speaks in one of his parables of the quest of men to find the
things that are most valuable in life. In the parable detailed below he speaks
of a man seeking goodly pearls, which are clearly meant to represent all the
things that people find valuable, whether they be material things, life
experiences or what we call pearls of wisdom that may exist in many
philosophies and religions across the great panorama of human thought. Even
though these things exist and may be of some value, there is beyond them all ‘one pearl of great price’, which is more valuable that the totality
of all others. To acquire this pearl, the man in the parable sells all
else to attain it. Consider the words of the parable.
Matt.13:45-46.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a
merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who,
when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and
bought it.
From this parable it is evident
that Jesus is saying that there are many pearls in life, many things that we seek
for that are treasured and valuable. But
in comparison to them all, there stands one that is far more precious than the
rest, and the acquisition of
which requires the abandonment of all other things.
As noted, these other lesser
pearls may be defined in many different ways that cover all the things that men
and women find valuable. The importance of what he is saying should not be
underestimated, and is therefore worth repeating. In comparison to the things
men find valuable the pearl of great price, which Jesus calls the ‘Kingdom of Heaven’, is of far greater
value than the value of all the others combined.
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