Meaning
Do you have a deep enough “why?”
Some of life’s greatest surprises are when joy shines unexpectedly into a dark moment. The Apostle Paul experienced this during his first imprisonment, penning what we sometimes refer to as “the epistle of joy.” (the letter to the Philippians)
Where does this joy come from?
In his landmark book Man’s Search for Meaning Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl discovered a secret amidst his suffering: Beyond the drive for pleasure or empowerment lies what Fankl called “the will to meaning.” He put it this way, “We can endure any ‘what’ if we have a [deep enough] ‘why’.”
Frankl’s point is that joy comes when we see meaning in the difficulty. So often we are like the parent who sees the rain storm as an added complication to the day. But why not see it like the toddler who runs towards the puddles with jumps of joy?
More on the topic:
- A summary of Victor Frankl’s ideas about how to find meaning in life
- See Alexander Schemann’s comments about the importance of joy
- Dive into this theme of joy with thoughts from Schemann, Chesterton and Luther
- A prayer for joy