Sam Matteson

One of my students e-mailed the last day of class asking several questions; three were mundane ones like “Will the final be comprehensive” etc.  The last question, however, stopped me in my tracks.  I read it a second time.  “What is the meaning of life?” it said.

Gretchen Fragen

I think that the inquirer must have been speaking facetiously, but it was and is a valid question.  Indeed, it is a fundamental question, probably one of the most important questions one can ask.  Such questions are called, after Goethe’s heroine of Faust, “Gretchen Fragen.”

I had promised my students that I would try to answer their questions, no matter how strange or off the topic of the course.  Thus, I had intended to speak to this question in the last lecture of the semester, but events conspired to prevent me. (Honestly, a flat tire threw me late to class, the computer crashed, the opening discussion dragged out longer than I had anticipated.  I only had ninety seconds to speak at the end of class; too short.)  So I had no other recourse than to share my thoughts in writing and direct my students here.  Probably it is just as well.

Non-Answers

There are a few non-answers I have considered:

a)      The answer to the meaning of life, let alone the universe is NOT : “42,” notwithstanding the ironic and satirical Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  Such a response suggests to me a pessimistic nihilism (as if there could be an optimistic form of nihilism) that affirms that all that we experience is pointless and meaningless. My soul cries out for some meaning and I feel that I have found it.

b)      The meaning of the life is NOT found in the life itself, either.  The meaning of a sign is not the paint, the paper, or the illumination; rather, its meaning is to be read there but lies beyond it.  In the same way, Science is one way of reading the “Book of Nature” that points beyond itself to transcendental realities. Radical materialism and scientific reductionism I have found bankrupt of spiritual truth.  There must be more, I sense.

c)      Nor does the meaning of life lie in pleasure or comfort.  Hedonism is a seductive trap that ultimately will ensnare.  “More, more, more” the empty soul cries.  There are pleasures to be had to be sure, but at what cost of one’s self?  The Wise Preacher (Ecclesiastes) informs us that pleasure is “Emptiness, emptiness, all emptiness.”  Indeed, wrapped up in myself, I make a very small and pathetic package.

d)     Morality—the basis of most religious piety—is NOT a foundation of a meaningful of life, either, in my view.  In my experience I have found that on my very best day I am morally incompetent and spiritually bankrupt in my own strength.  Despite my best intentions I am not righteous in thought or action for very long.  I sense that I cannot be good enough to live a most meaningful life, nor can I earn, by my piety, sufficient credit to offset my unrighteousness.  It is a futile enterprise.

My Greatest Discovery

I have had a long and satisfying career as a teacher and as a scholar.  As a scientist I have made many discoveries. (A sign over my desk might read, “Neat people do not make the exciting discoveries that I do.”)  For a few of these discoveries I was the first human ever to know or understand the fact.  It is a heady feeling, akin to discovering an island or exploring an uninhabited landscape.

Yet as exciting as my research has been, my greatest discovery I made as a child of ten.  I discovered that the Maker of the universe knew me and still cared about me.  In fact, He loved me even as I rebelled against Him, even though I had declared war on Him, as I shook my puny, little fist at Him, shouting “My Way!”

The good news is that I finally gave up the fight and He—and this is wonderful news—adopted me as one of His children, pardoning my war crimes against Him and against humanity.  In exchange for my failure and moral incompetence, He graciously gave me forgiveness and real peace and meaning in life.

But Is it real?

It was if I had been born all over again from above.  This transformation of my young heart came through accepting my adoption into the Way of Jesus called the Christ.  Over the years since that fateful day when I gave up the fight, waved the white flag, I have examined and reexamined this faith of a child and I have found it profound even if I did not and do not understand it fully.

I have discovered in the Jesus-Way, a path that does not rely upon my goodness or my intentions or even on the strength my faith, but instead depends on the character of the Creator and the work completed by Rab Jeshua in the first century of this current era in the backwaters of the Levant.  This ancient way, I discovered, is historically informed, philosophically and scientifically viable and imminently livable. Stated simply, in the life of the Christ-follower I have found profound meaning.

The Chief End of Man?

I have discovered existential and empirically the truth of the first question and answer of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “Q: What is the chief end of man?  A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”  All I seek and learn and do, now, has meaning as it glorifies God.  As J.S. Bach famously wrote on his manuscripts “J.J” Jesu Juva (Jesus, help!) and “S.D.G.” soli Deo Gloria (to the glory of God alone),  I resolve to do this not to gain God’s favor but as a grateful child.

So if you are a seeker after meaning as am I, let us talk about it sometime—in person or via e-mail.  You can read more of my story at http://www.meettheprof.com.   But in regard to the ultimate questions, I submit that the most relevant answers are those you work out for yourself.  I wish you well and will cheer you on as you do so.

You have my benediction in the words of the oft-spoken (Greek) greeting of the Apostle Paul:

Grace to you and Peace from God our Father through Jesus Christ our Lord.

KAPIC YMIN KAI EPHNH . . .