You Matter
We have all engaged in some existentialist philosophy at various points in our lives: questions about the meaning of life and the role we have to play occupy our thoughts from time to time, ranging from bright and curios to dark and nihilistic.
Many philosophers have also addressed the issue. Prominent among them is psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl. Frankl developed Logotherapy, which is based on the idea that the primary motivating force in human life is the pursuit of meaning, rather than power or pleasure. In his book Man’s Search for Meaning (1946), Frankl explains how his theories helped him endure the Holocaust and how that experience strengthened his beliefs.
Meaning and purpose in life are indeed powerful forces. In this post, we tackle meaning from a spiritual viewpoint, showing that man’s life is inherently meaningful, even though surrounding circumstances may suggest otherwise, and that this meaning together with our freedom of choice is God’s greatest gift to us. In exploring these, we realize our true potential in God.
Form and Function
Imagine a world where everything exists in only one color—red. The leaves on the trees, the skies and clouds, the roads, your car, even your headphones—all shades of red. Aesthetic monotony and boredom will be the least of our worries.
Beyond beauty, however, variety in color is functional. For instance, green leaves absorb sunlight to create food through photosynthesis, producing oxygen in the process. Consider how essential their green pigment is to life. Without it, the entire cycle could collapse, and life on Earth might not even exist.
The key idea is this: form is married to function. A water bottle wouldn’t serve its purpose if it were shaped like a spoon. In the same way, who we are—our personality, quirks, and traits—is shaped by the unique role we are meant to fulfil. As reflected in Jeremiah 1:5 and Psalm 139:13-18, our form is intentionally designed for the purpose we were created to carry out.
Defining Perfection
All unity is formed out of harmony by many. The way the many harmonize determines what kind of love they have - Emmanuel Swedenborg
We often associate perfection with both an ideal and flawlessness. While that may be true, we can also understand perfection in terms of completeness. A body becomes more perfect when it is made up of diverse members, each serving a unique purpose. The more varied its members, the more fully it can function, with each piece contributing to the whole.
For example, a human body, created in the image and likeness of God, is a perfect vessel because of the different role each of its trillions of cells plays.
The same is true of our spiritual journey. No individual can express the infinite in God for such a person would be God. We’ve been created such that each individual uniquely expresses an aspect of God’s infinity, and together, we all project the image and likeness of God. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27
If we pay close attention to the people around us, we find things unique to them that no one else has. A combination of individual uniqueness reflects the perfection in God — together, we are more powerful.
Thus, our differences should be a source of unity. Unfortunately, human as we are, things like racism, classism, sexism, etc. exist and they exist because we’ve turned the principle of infinite perfection upon its head.
The enemy
Our enemy is not some person or some idealogy. Our enemy is anything that exists to corrupt our unique vessels. Our enemy could be the devil, stress, self-pity, addiction, anger, pleasure, suffering, etc. It varies in countless ways according to the vessel it tries to destroy. This is why no two people ever fight the same battles.
Our enemy is marvellously deceptive, stealing (real joy) from us by selling us a destructive, selfish, unsustainable vision of happiness. We may know this from our experiences when we’ve acted selfishly. However, human as we are, there’s an irresistible appeal in the false promise of salvation the enemy offers.
So yes, we do have external adversaries. However, only we, in our God-given freedom of choice, can allow these external adversaries to harm us. Consequently, we are our true enemies when we identify with our external adversaries.
God has a vision for the human race, a vision of love, usefulness, and abundant joy. In rising to take our place in this vision, we must, necessarily, battle our enemies. It’s not a matter of if these battles will take place, it’s a matter of when. Viktor Frankl, for example, had to battle himself through concentration camp to solidify his ideas around logotherapy which today have helped millions of people worldwide.
Conclusion
God’s vision of abundant, indescribable love and joy for humanity will come to pass. By partnering with God, we have the chance to reach our full potential and experience deep joy in the process. He created each of us uniquely so that, through our lives, He can express a distinct aspect of His infinite nature. However, as we strive toward this goal, we must also face and overcome the challenges that life presents. In embracing our uniqueness and resisting the forces that try to harm us, we align ourselves with God’s plan for love and fulfilment. In doing this, we realize that our lives truly have meaning and that we are part of something much bigger than ourselves.