PHILOSOPHY AND SURRENDER

 

Brian confessed that he had been interested in philosophy. I thought I had sensed a note of surrender in his confession.

Brian had given up. Trying to grasp the meaning of life and his purpose within it was like trying to grasp the wind, as the wise King Solomon had concluded. However, there was an important piece of the puzzle that Solomon had lacked - the existence of the eternal, the culmination of God's justice and mercy.

Without this essential piece, Solomon railed that he hated life, even though he had more pleasures than anyone could dream of. However, Brian lacked more than just one piece of the puzzle. For him, God was no more than an uncaring energy-force.

I tried to explain that a satisfying philosophy was like starting to button our shirt in the right hole. If we succeed at the bottom, every other button will fall satisfyingly into its correct hole. If we don't, everything else will be out-of-place. Sadly, when our buttons fail to fit, we seldom go back to the starting place.

Brian wasn't biting. He knew his buttons were out of place, but he was content to just "enjoy" life, but could he?

King Solomon needed to know the purpose of life. From his limited perspective, it seemed meaningless. We die like the animals, the righteous and unrighteous alike, and we are forgotten. In light of this absurdity, even his endless supply of women and money could only provide a fleeting sense of pleasure.

A poor man who knows his purpose is richer than the rich man who cannot see his way. There was nothing further I could say to Brian. I could only hope that I had given him a candle for his journey.