The Meaning of Life According to Me

10/28/03 | marron

[gcruse]

The force opposing [entropy] is life.

That's quite a dismissal of the forces that formed the universe
billions of years before life appeared.   Galactic structures,
the elevation within stellar cores of hydrogen to more complex
elements, are all examples of increased organization.

Life is the process by which basic components bind
themselves together, form chaos into structure, by which steady state becomes dynamic...

Sorry. Physics does the same thing.

[beckett]

Absolutely stunning. The enormous wisdom of this beautiful essay completely captivated me. I only wish I could write half as well. In all the years I have been reading FR, I don't think I have ever encountered a more valuable contribution to the forum.

Action! Having been a bit of a navel gazer all my life -- too much contemplation and not enough gettin' bizzy -- I have much to learn on that score. For a person like me, the question becomes: How does one convert the wonderful food for thought in the essay into an agenda for action? This is the existential dilemma, solvable only by the individual himself.

The essay called to mind a favorite few lines by the poet John Donne, written in 1620:

On a huge hill, Cragged and steep,
Truth stands,
And hee that will reach her,
About must, and about must goe,
And what th'hills suddenes resists, winne so,
Yet strive so, that before age, death's twilight,
Thy soule reste, for none can worke in that night.

[beckett]

I thought you three might enjoy this fine piece by marron. It deserves a wide audience at FR.

[Teacher317]

Not a bad self-post. Kudos.

[betty boop]

But faith is not about believing, in some flat-footed passive sense, faith is always about doing. “Faith without works is dead.” Faith which is separate from action is not faith at all, it is something else. Faith is what leads us to conceive of an idea, a project, a reality that could be, and to step into the breach between what is and what is not yet. It is what leads us to act not knowing the outcome but determined to shape it come what may.... Faith is courage in motion.

Outstanding essay, marron! beckett, thank you so much for bumping it to me. Will be mulling this over some more at my earliest opportunity.

[Doctor Stochastic]

A chicken is just an egg's way of producing another egg.

[Alamo-Girl]

Kudos to you, marron, for an excellent essay sharing with us your thoughts on the meaning of life!

Thank you for the heads up, betty boop!

[marron]

On a huge hill, Cragged and steep,
Truth stands,
And hee that will reach her,
About must, and about must goe,
And what th'hills suddenes resists, winne so,
Yet strive so, that before age, death's twilight,
Thy soule reste, for none can worke in that night.

Thanks, beckett

[betty boop]

marron, I've been mulling over your glorious essay this evening.

So tell me, Masked Man: Who the hail are you?

To put that impertinent question into context, we could recall that Plato, in Gorgias, had Socrates instruct his student Chaerophon to ask the first question of the great Sophist, since they were imminently to be joined in company, along with Gorgias' students, Polus and [the fatal] Callicles....

Chaerophon was clueless what question would be appropriate to address to the celebrated orator. So Socrates said, just ask him: "Who he is."

Now this is quite a difficult, if not "fatal" question to ask any intelligent person. For as Voegelin points out, this is the question that

"...is for all times the decisive question, cutting through the network of opinions, social ideas, and ideologies. It is the question that appeals to the nobility of the soul; and it is the one question which the ignoble intellectual cannot face."

Your essay is not "an intellectual exercise." It cuts to the heart-and-soul problems of human existence. And it seems to have done so, so effectively as to have precluded meaningful debate.

That is, I notice that few people have taken the trouble to reply to you.

And the whole thing was done in glorious prose!

KUDOS to you, Masked Man [Woman]!

[EternalVigilance]

Incredible piece of work. I've bookmarked it for when I have more time to read it more closely.

If you'd like to write for RenewAmerica.us, I'm sure your efforts would be very well received:

Talk to them, seriously.

editor@renewamerica.us

[Consort]

Life is the process by which basic components bind themselves together, form chaos into structure, by which steady state becomes dynamic...

Sorry. Physics does the same thing.

So does Kaopectate.

[A CA Guy]

Darn, I was hoping you would end by going in a trance an revealing the winning lottery numbers for tomorrow in each state.
Then those who won by listening to you could offer to by you the cheap dinner of your choice!

Why are we here and why were any of us born?
Goes back to Satan being thrown out of heaven with 1/3rd of the former occupants.
God wants a full house and we are souls being born who are trying to fill it back up.
We are not worthy on our own to deserve heaven and should be grateful that we can cheat in this game of life by relying in Christ as out Lord and Savior for our salvation to afterlife.

None of us are here a long lime. Some are forbidden by their parent to even be born.

There are horrors and blessings in this world, but one thing is certain. For those of us born in the USA, we are one fortunate group of people.
God Bless America and the rest of us as well.

[gcruse]

ROFL!!! Oh, man...that's rich.

[marron]

Darn, I was hoping you would end by going in a trance an revealing the winning lottery numbers for tomorrow in each state.

You've seen my infomercial? There are operators standing by. Have your credit card number ready.

[A CA Guy]

Boy, that you don't want to start, those types have been going to prison lately for fraud.

What were my winning numbers for Saturday and don't forget to provide the correct bonus number please!!! LOL

[Alamo-Girl]

Thank you so much for the heads up to your response!

It cuts to the heart-and-soul problems of human existence. And it seems to have done so, so effectively as to have precluded meaningful debate.

I agree. There is nothing to debate when one shares the essence of who he is. It is a testimony - and a rare one at that, for it seems quite difficult for many either to collect their own thoughts or to open themselves fully and deeply to inspection.

[cornelis]

I thought you three might enjoy this fine piece by marron

I did.

And if I may add anything, originally faith concerned the interaction with the divine. Faith generalized concerns interaction with any agency. All action is interaction, and faith would be one of the four aspects singled out in the active and passive aspects of two agents in proximity (total of 4 considerations).

The big mistake of rationalism is that it fails to respect the non-contingent independence of another's agency. Not eloquent, I know, but I think it's true and important for "the meaning of life." No faith, no sovereignty. And BTW, you also have a way of writing well.

[MHGinTN]

A better sermon I have not heard or read. Thank you for regaling my flagging soul. I've printed it out for rereading ... there is so much to contemplate, so much over which to mull, so much that resonates with our 'now' as we meet it day by day. Thank you for 'doing' this.

[cornelis]

Have you read the Odyssey lately?

At the end of Book 8, Demodocus the bard has been telling his tale, it's pretty good, and makes Odysseus weep. So the Phaecian king makes Demodocus stop. "Hold off--you're making our guest weep. Let's be more civil." And with that he turns to Odysseus and says, "Now then, what I'd like to know is this. What's your name?

marron also has a very nice response about them there Straussians

[MHGinTN]

Incidentally, if you're planning more essays, would you please add me to your 'ping list'?