The Why and How of Life

“The Why and How of Life”                    

A meditation delivered electronically by Rev. Dr. Randy K. Hammer, July 12, 2020

Job 6:11; 7:1-4, 6 GNT; from Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning

A few weeks ago, something I was reading made mention of Viktor E. Frankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning (which also was drawn from in last week’s service).  The current crises – the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; racial unrest and street protests; political, religious, and racial divisions in our nation; and life’s uncertainties in general – inspired me to seriously study Man’s Search for Meaning.  And it proved to be a very timely endeavor.

In case you are not familiar with it, Man’s Search for Meaning is an account of Viktor Frankl’s years in Nazi concentration camps, the horrific experiences that he and others suffered, and his reflections upon those experiences and conclusions he drew about such human suffering, how to deal with it, what can be gained from it, as well as humanity’s search for meaning in life in general. It has been looked upon as one of the ten most influential books in the United States.  At the time of Frankl’s death, 10 million copies of the book had been sold, and it had been translated into 24 languages.  I certainly would include it in my personal list as one of the most significant books I have ever read.  I will return to Frankl in a moment.

But reading Frankl’s account of human suffering in a concentration camp led me to turn to the Book of Job yet again.  I have read the entire Book of Job more times than I could count over the years.  I even did an in-depth study of the major themes in Job for a college religion class.  Job is so full of human experience, especially when it comes to the questions surrounding human suffering and God’s role in human suffering, that it has always been one of my favorite books in the Bible.

At any rate, we have heard some of the saddest and most heart-wrenching words in the book of Job read today: “Why go on living when I have no hope? . . .

⁶ My days pass by without hope,
    pass faster than a weaver's shuttle.”

Can’t you just hear the sense of desperation, the deep despair, the utter hopelessness in Job’s words?  Such sentiments, although uncomfortable to consider, likely are much more common than we might first imagine, and perhaps even more so of late with all the problems brought on by the continued, and seemingly worsening, COVID-19 crisis. 

When life’s problems start to pile up in our lives, making us feel like we are being overwhelmed and smothered; when financial pressures grow deeper and deeper by the week as they have with many small business owners and farmers, bringing the feeling that one is drowning in debt; when loneliness and isolation make us feel as though we are alone and no one cares; when physical pain due to some chronic illness or condition, or emotional pain due to personal loss becomes unbearable; then it could be very tempting to join Job in saying, “Why go on living when I have no hope?”

Well, Viktor Frankl addresses the question of hope and contends that one can still find meaning in life, even in the midst of extreme suffering.  And if Frankl was able to hold onto hope and find meaning in life in the midst of the horrors of Nazi concentration camps, then perhaps the rest of us can as well.

The secret, the key to holding onto hope and finding meaning in life is to discover something to live for.  Frankl notes that his fellow prisoners in the concentration camps who survived held onto a reason for continuing to live – an unfinished project such as a book they were writing or planned to write, a person they dearly loved and longed to see again, or finding meaning in their suffering.  They discovered a reason, a meaning in life that gave them hope, courage, and determination to endure the suffering and be victorious.  Other prisoners, on the other hand, who had no reason to continue living and had discovered no sense of meaning in life gave up hope and failed to survive.

Frankl quotes philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche several times in the course of the book when he says, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.”²  And the “whys,” the possibilities for us to live for are many and varied.  Perhaps our “why” for living is a spouse or partner or close friend whom we dearly love, or a child or grandchild who needs us, or an unfinished project, or an artistic interest that we are passionate about, or a sense of personal growth or achievement.

As we continue to endure this current pandemic crisis, separate and isolate ourselves  from friends and loved ones, wear a mask whenever we go out in public, deal with the problems this crisis has thrust upon us, and so on, we could easily focus only upon the negative aspects of our situation and, like Job, start to lose hope. 

Or, we can choose to focus upon the positive aspects of our lives and the “whys” we have to live for and let those “whys” provide the positive motivation and determination we need to persevere and make life meaningful.  May it be so.  Amen.