Reflections for September, 2024

 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God – what is good and acceptable and perfect.  Romans 12: 2 

I like to walk and listen to books – mostly mystery stories – but sometimes the language of the audio books is very “salty” and it is just too much in my ears and in my brain. So, I decided to switch to some non-fiction for a break and chose Viktor Frankl’s Memoir called “Man’s Search for Meaning”. He tells of his experiences in the German concentration camps and what he believes allowed some prisoners to survive while others quickly lost hope. Out of his observations and experiences and as a psychiatrist, he developed what he named “logotherapy” for working with patients, based upon the Greek word, “Logos” which can be translated as “word” or “meaning”. He believed that helping patients find meaning and purpose for living was the key healing element to a troubled mind and spirit. Thus, he called is therapeutic approach “meaning- therapy”.

Frankl’s said that no doctor can answer the question, “What is the meaning of life” because it is unique to each person and rooted in three things: their personal experiences, their relationships and how they understand and manage their personal suffering. How he understands the role of suffering in our lives is fascinating but beyond my ability to encapsulate in this reflection. In short, we are all given a unique place in life, and we find our personal meaning through those three avenues. This excited me as I think of Jesus not as only the living Word [logos] but as the very “meaning” of life. In Jesus we find our reason, our purpose and the meaning for living. Logo-therapy could be “Jesus-Therapy” which I think might have stunned the Jewish man who developed it!   

I see the uniqueness of our meaning in Romans 12: 2 as well. God’s good and perfect will for our lives is unique to each one of us and cannot be found by leaning into what the world says brings meaning.  The world wrongly shouts at us that “stuff” “prestige” “power” all bring meaning. Viktor Frankl realized that everything that they lost in the concentration camps that once gave meaning and security – jobs, titles and positions, houses, money – could all be replaced. What could not be replaced was their loved ones, but the love itself could not be taken away. For him, the memory of his love for his wife [only married 9 months before taken to the camps] and sensing her presence each day helped him endure the worst of his suffering. Ultimately who and how we love, give love and receive love will give us a reason for living and living well. And who can better teach us that love than Jesus, our perfect lover. 

I do not really understand why God created this earth we live upon and inhabited it with all kinds of life forms up to the humans who reflect our Creator’s image. This earth is like speck of dust in comparison to the vastness of the universe and galaxies in which we dwell. “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established: what is humanity that you are mindful of them, people that you care for them? And yet . . .” [1]  And yet there is a reason, there is a purpose and there is a meaning in the mind of God and thus for each of us. While each of us has a unique place and special purpose in God’s kingdom plan, we are given the joint task of learning to love God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. Love is our ultimate meaning and purpose for God is Love. So let us go into this fall with some Jesus-therapy and once again renew our minds with all that is Jesus. 

By grace alone, 

Faye Reynolds

[1] Psalm 8: 3 - 4

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