Finding Meaning

Meaning has been lost in our culture today. This loss of meaning was brought forth by the loss of truth. Freidrich Neitszche is the father of nihilism, the philosophy which declares all things as meaningless. Many people today have difficulty finding meaning in their lives, and whether they know it or not, it is because they are slowly following down a dry and lonely path that leads to nihilism. The dominant perspective on truth in the western world today is one of relativism. By declaring truth relative, one essentially declares truth as nonexistent. This is how Nietszche understood the world, and he was dedicated enough to the pursuit of his philosophy to follow it wherever it led; in the end of his life, it led to insanity. He lost the will to live, because he knew that his life could hold no meaning. This should be a frightening example of where the erosion of truth can lead. Without truth there is no meaning, and without meaning there is no purpose.

Ravi Zacharias is a Christian apologist and world renowned speaker on the issues of culture and philosophy. He developed what is one of the most useful, applicable, and poignant definitions of meaning that the average person can find intelligible. Zacharias gave his definition of meaning at an open forum at Georgia Tech University. For this article, I will alter his definition slightly in order to provide a standard by which people can decide whether a particular philosophy holds meaning.

This argument for the essence of meaning is expressed through the various stages of life that all men experience. In the beginning of a person’s life, the pre-teen formative years of childhood development, everything in life is full of meaning. There are few nihilistic children in the world. Children find so much meaning in the world around them because everything is new and bigger than they could imagine. The best word to describe this feeling is awe. Children are awestruck by the world around them, and that makes the world an incredible place.

In the next stage of life, people begin to find meaning in a different area, the area of love. Teenage girls are desperately seeking the attentions of young men to affirm that they are desirable. Young men want the admiration of their peers and the sense of pride that is given by their parents.  Each of the things a teenager needs, acceptance, respect, encouragement, and affirmation falls under the banner of love. Love and its byproducts are what teenagers most want and need. Whether it is given from a parent or peer, love, or the lack thereof, is how most people define their teenage years. Therefore, love is an aspect of what provides meaning.

After a person moves through their adolescent years and begins to strike out on his or her own, a new focus emerges. Security is the best way to describe the new focus of a person’s life. This is where a good career becomes important, relationships move towards a deeper and more satisfying level, and the future becomes the focus of a person’s present. This is the stage where a person wants to know that the love which provided so much meaning is going to stay with them, which is why marriage is a hallmark of this period of life. The present situation is regarded with an eye towards the future, therefore a person’s career becomes much more valuable to them; people allow their career to define them at this point, because their career provides for their security.

In the final stage of life, truth provides the essence of meaning. When someone reaches the twilight years of their life, they want to know what was really true. They realize that the end is near, and they want to know that all they have worked towards is not in vain. People want to know that they will be remembered for who they really were, so they tell their stories to those who are willing to listen. As they look forward to the grave, they want to know that the end is indeed what they always expected. They don’t want someone to tell them what they want to hear; they just want to know the truth of what to expect, and they want to reflect and analyze their lives based upon this truth.

Therefore, something ultimately meaningful would need to be something that creates a sense of awe in us over something bigger than ourselves, it would have to inspire and encourage a feeling of love, it would need to provide a sense of security for us in daily life, and it would have to prove itself as true. If you come across a philosophy, religion, or worldview that seems appealing, I encourage you to analyze it according to these criteria. Search to find whether it is meaningful.

Let me finally offer a few words to clarify a few points of common contention. The word truth, by its very definition means objective truth. Any philosophy which presents relative truth presents a form of truth which will not satisfy when logically and fully considered. Also, this is a very simple, yet remarkably salient, way to determine meaning; if your philosophy requires major augmentation before it fits these parameters, it probably does not fit. Finally, if you or someone you know is searching for something meaningful, I would posit that a personal, creator god best fulfills these parameters and the Bible paints a picture of God in relationship to history and man’s future that will prove to be the most meaningful.