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1 March 2025

 

Futility vs Purpose:
Where Do We Stand ?

Everyone has an opinion - a personal “philosophy” - about the meaning of life, the purpose of existence and God’s role in all of it. We all have some ideas about why we do what we do, about what’s moral and what isn’t, about what truly matters, about the point and purpose of our own lives.

• Some people find their “meaning” in possessing power and control over others (sometimes to the point of excess).


• Some people find purpose in accumulating wealth and piling up the accoutrements of financial affluence.


• Some people pursue a life of emotional “kicks” through fate-tempting forays against the odds.


• Some find “meaning” when they treat others as commodities to be manipulated for the aggrandizement of ego.


• Some people seek meaning in “social causes,” such as the Diversity/Equity/Inclusion craze, “cancel culture,” or the moral and medical distortions in “transgender” doctrines (see, for example, Foote v Ludlow, a recent 1st Circuit Court decision granting pro-transgender choice to minors while excluding parents from knowing about their child’s subterfuge).  


• Some people latch onto psychological categories (however ponderously shallow) for fleeting comfort to the riddles of life, Creation’s Mysteries and the infinite Universe.

Is Science The Answer ?

Many folks approach various sources of knowing with hopeful ardor, but when it comes to satisfactory insight or cohesive unity or lasting peace on mind, even tentative hypotheses of science prove bereft of long-term stability, devoid of meaning and, at times, lethal to Empathy and Goodness. Something is missing.

In fact, every secular approach to life’s meaning and Creation’s mysteries is clearly insufficient. Some approaches even exploit, rather than ennoble, hope … especially when they rely on:

1. twisted abuse of language to exploit noble intentions,


2. a shortage of Common Sense in the culture,


3. the spiritual and intellectual vulnerability of adherents, and


4. naïve enthusiasm of overly zealous people who accept errant ideologies without critical analysis.

Humane Views

Some people seek meaning in the Mystery of suffering. For example, Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor, wrote “Man's Search for Meaning.” He proposes that we find meaning (1) when we attain our goals and number our accomplishments, (2) in our relationships, especially loving relationships, (3) when we choose to view pain and suffering as having a purpose.

Sounds good … but even these suggestions raise legitimate questions:

• When we do achieve our goals, what then?


• How about lonely people who do not find (or cannot sustain) a loving relationship?


• What can possibly be the purpose of suffering or the point of loss and pain?


• Is there a practical “philosophy of life” which sustains us through spiritual darkness and intellectual doubt?”

These questions do linger with haunting insistence because:

• Human reason and logic teach us that Creation is more than we can explain by human reason and logic alone.


• Persons are more than a collection of sensory receptors with reproductive capacity.


• We have a spiritual nature at the core of our humanity. We possess a material body AND a spiritual soul.


• We are created children of God, dependent upon God’s Divine Authority for our lives, utterly reliant on His inexplicable generosity to us at every instant.


• Obviously, power in the Universe lies outside our control.


• Gratitude - not indifference or disdain - should be our response for the gift of life and for the Mystery of Creation.

With these ideas in mind, we ask: Where do we find personal meaning which (1) responds to our deepest human and spiritual needs, and (2) offers us sensible options to futility?

History’s Lessons

Of all options, Christian Traditions are our surest source for the meaning of life and Creation. The Christian Faith (particularly Catholic moral and doctrinal teachings) is unrivaled in human experience as a belief system and as a “philosophy of life.”

Christian Tradition aims at (1) developing our relationship with our Creator, and (2) honoring Wisdom which we receive through countless sources, starting with the Mysteries of Creation (who but the Creator can make a tree?).

Christian Wisdom offers us a philosophy of life which is eminently practical as well as idealistic. It is the most useful way of living especially for those who seek meaning beyond science, money, power and all the secular strivings mentioned above.

Why is this so? To begin with, Christianity offers these traits:

• Two millennia of trial-and-error;


• Unrivaled view of the dignity of Creation and human life;


• Moral doctrines - with details about how to live effectively;


• The sanctity and prestige of its Divine Founder;


• The watchful eye of the Holy Spirit Who offers options to our waywardness;


• Behavioral guidelines (i.e., Virtues) which are far more thorough and fulfilling than secular knowledge alone;


• Science (useful as it is) deals only with created entities, i.e., the “What” of Creation, which mirrors our Creator’s power;


• Only the enlightened insights of Christian revelation can explain the “Who” of Creation, i.e., God Who created us.


• These are a few reasons – for starters.

In daily living, Christian principles are beneficial to individuals, business and governments who wish to clarify ethical standards, create humane families and communities, and develop a common moral vocabulary in government, work and family life.

History is clear: America’s beliefs in Justice, the rule of law and human dignity originate in our Judeo-Christian heritage. History also demonstrates that nations need the Christian moral code which provides guiding principles for every humane society. Without Christian principles, nations have no moral compass. 

The Message

Soviet dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, author of “The Gulag Archipelago,” pointed out that “…the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts.”

The Bottom Line is this: Our fallen human nature needs help. God offers us assistance in the guidelines of Christian life. It is up to us to choose to cooperate - to freely cooperate.

Here are some characteristics of the Christian philosophy of life:

1. Christian life teaches our accountability to God, Our Creator, and to one another, even strangers.


2. It stresses that life is not a matter of claiming our rights and freedoms, with no thought of our responsibility for the consequences of what we say and do.


3. Thus, Christian philosophy of life teaches regard for the Truth that we are responsible for our behavior.


4. Sometimes freedom is best served when it is voluntarily suspended in favor of a higher goal or is sacrificed for the good of the community, for the family or for another person.


5. Christian life urges us to generosity and goodness because life is not about how little we can for others.


6. Christian insight applies to every aspect of our lives – to home and family, to marriage and raising our children, to our business and work settings, to our social and intellectual lives … all of which are, first and foremost, moral in essence.


7. Christian life offers us specific Virtues to enliven our moral awareness so our decisions are consistent and trustworthy.


8. These central Virtues of Christian living are Prudence and Justice, Temperance and Fortitude, Faith and Hope, Love and Fidelity. Each Virtue has practical applications.


9. Legalities do not excuse us from our moral responsibilities.



Idealism Made Real




Christian insights deal with the fact that we are a weak and easily-tempted people. Consequently, self-restraint and self-discipline are involved. This emphasis on personal responsibility and repentance prompts cynical and faint-hearted folk to employ the ready excuse that Christian ideals are inhumane, too tough, too demanding or too irrelevant for “real” life. But, as Solzhenitsyn also said, without ideals we have no hope.

Evil and wickedness are constant realities we face. Saint Augustine noted that wickedness is an inherent factor in life. He pointed out that “… God could have abolished all evil, but in His omnipotence, He did not. He did the better thing: He made good come out of evil, and sanctity comes out of it …”

Thus, Christian Wisdom confronts weaknesses and temptations which beset us, celebrating the splendid idealism of the Virtues and the fact that when we seek Virtue, we seek sanctity.




What About Our Future ?




Today, deterioration of America’s moral identity occurs through the wide-spread rejection of Judeo-Christian values, which were once the unashamed bases of our nation’s moral compass.

Commenting on the moral dangers confronting America, Dr. William Donahue recently wrote that our nation now faces “… a condition where our moral compass is directed more by individual whim than sacred tenets. That is a recipe for disaster.”

Again, the lessons of history are evident and repetitive: once our lives are deprived of Faith and we disregard the moral precepts of our Christian heritage, we disarm ourselves in mind and spirit, opening ourselves to the assaults of soul-destroying evil and inhumane ideologies spawned by ignorance and conceit.

However, the bright potential for the emergence of Goodness in human nature rests in the fact that we do indeed have the gift of freedom of choice … Free will is always ours.

It is most fitting, therefore, to ask: What shall it be?