We are created for meaning...

A few random thoughts on a Sunday morning

I’m reading Richard Rohr’s book Falling Upward. He is one of my favorite spiritual authors and his works have challenged me in my faith in ways I didn’t know possible.

This book is focused on the spirituality of the two halves of life - something that I have definitely come to understand more on the other side of my 40’s. But something I read this morning struck a cord and was a good reminder - especially in those times when life might feel mundane, hard, or even a bit lack luster.

He said:

As the body cannot live without food, so the soul cannot live without meaning… Humans are created for meaning, and finding deep meaning in our experiences is not just another name for spirituality but is also the very shape of human happiness.

It was a reminder to me that meaning in our lives is vital to our wholeness. It isn’t just spiritual but mental and even physical. Just like we cannot live long without food, we also cannot live long without meaning.

Life in so many ways gets eaten up with the mundane, the hard, the things we are discontent with, the relationships that are broken, the financial or health pressures that are there, our worry, anxiety, ego, and more. You can see how easy it is to lose sight of meaning whether that be the core of your why or the things that have significant meaning in our lives.

This challenges me to make time to remember it, define it (because I don’t think this is a stagnant thing), cherish it, and look back to it often - because without meaning it’s hard to have hope and without hope life can and will feel pretty void of anything remotely beautiful!