The Flash! – February 5, 2015
If you were to ask me about the meaning of life I would likely turn red, start to stammer, and borrow Snoopy’s expression. Next I would attempt to deflect the question with some flippant response like “42”. And if those dodges left me squirming on the hook, I would break into a litany of quips and quotes from Monty Python.
I was recently in the company of a young child who was asked what is the meaning of life? I cannot, nor will I ever, forget the answer: sometimes we find the meaning of life while we’re looking for the meaning of life.
By all rights this piece should end here, but I can’t let this one go…
Imagine finding more meaning in the meetings designed to define a meaningful destination than in the destination.
Imagine that in each class we were to find less meaning in the lessons we learn and more meaning in the process of learning them.
Imagine that each Sunday in worship we found the meaning we seek not in some distant and mysterious time and place, but in the time we call sacred and the place we call sanctuary.
Time and again Jesus said to his followers: the reign of God is at hand, right here in your midst, and right now in your face. Yes, he was referring to his presence with them. He was at the same time making a compelling, timeless statement: the things that happen while living life are the very things that give life its meaning.
May God bless our desire and search for meaning; that it would be fulfilled each and every day.
Peace,
Andy