Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000030S
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00:01 - In some ways it's like all of us are sitting on death row
00:04 because while the big clock of life just keeps on ticking 00:07 and at any moment, 00:09 death is gonna come and get you from your jail cell. 00:12 And because of that, there are people who think 00:15 that even trying to live a good life at all 00:17 for even a few moments is kind of pointless. 00:20 That's what we're gonna look at on today's edition 00:23 of "Authentic." 00:24 [upbeat music] 00:45 They say that a writer really only has a few words 00:48 to get your attention, to pull you into their book. 00:52 So when it comes to captivating readers, 00:54 I think I'd have to give first prize 00:56 to the French philosopher Albert Camus because, 00:59 well, this is how he opens his famous book, 01:01 "The Myth of Sisyphus," just listen to this. 01:04 "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem 01:08 and that is suicide. 01:10 Judging whether life is or is not worth living 01:13 amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy. 01:16 All the rest, 01:18 whether or not the world has three dimensions, 01:20 whether the mind has nine or 12 categories 01:23 comes afterwards." 01:25 Well, if that kind of writing doesn't get your attention 01:27 I doubt anything would. 01:29 This is essentially, 01:30 the same question that Shakespeare asks in Hamlet 01:33 when his lead character is contemplating taking his own life 01:37 and delivers those really famous lines, 01:39 "To be or not to be, that is the question." 01:44 What Camus book really does is explore the value 01:48 and the meaning of life. 01:50 What's driving him to think about suicide 01:52 at the very beginning of the book is a problem he describes 01:56 as the absurdity of life. 01:58 Sooner or later he argues, 02:00 you're gonna realize that life in this universe 02:02 has absolutely no meaning 02:04 and the process of living is well absurd. 02:08 It just doesn't mean anything. 02:11 Here's one of the ways he describes this sudden moment 02:14 of awareness where you realize 02:16 the world you're living in is just ludicrous. 02:18 And he does this by describing a man in a phone booth. 02:22 He writes, "At certain moments of lucidity." 02:26 He's talking about watching people 02:28 and suddenly becoming aware that, 02:29 well, they look kind of ridiculous. 02:31 "At certain moments of lucidity, 02:34 the mechanical aspect of their gestures, 02:37 their meaningless pantomime 02:38 makes silly everything that surrounds them. 02:41 A man is talking on the telephone behind a glass partition. 02:45 You cannot hear him, 02:46 but you see his in comprehensible dumb show, 02:50 you wonder why he is alive." 02:53 Now, to an extent, 02:55 I think we can all identify with that feeling. 02:56 Most of us at some point are suddenly captivated 02:59 by something rather ordinary let's say, 03:01 I don't know, like a group of people 03:03 eating lunch at the counter of a diner. 03:05 And as we're watching them, 03:06 the usual structure that our brain gives to that site 03:09 suddenly falls away and the whole thing just starts to look, 03:12 kind of silly, I mean, maybe in our imagination, 03:15 we suddenly compare the crowd at the counter 03:17 to a group of cows, 03:19 with their noses in a feeding trough for, 03:21 maybe the up and down movement of their head 03:23 suddenly reminds us of those little plastic drinking birds, 03:27 that bob up and down on the edge of a glass. 03:29 But whatever it is that you imagine 03:31 the scene in front of you 03:32 suddenly looks very silly and it begins to lose meaning. 03:36 It's a little bit like what happens 03:38 when you pick a word from the English language 03:40 like the word book, 03:42 and you say it over and over and over out loud 03:45 until it no longer sounds like a real word. 03:48 And it becomes nothing more than this silly arbitrary sound. 03:52 Those are the moments when you begin to suspect 03:55 that maybe the world around you 03:56 isn't quite as structured as you've been led to believe. 03:59 And you start to suspect 04:00 that the only reason you ever thought it was structured 04:03 is because your brain has been imposing 04:06 some kind of structure on it. 04:08 Now, for most of us, that's just a passing moment, 04:11 a mere glitch and the fabric of reality. 04:14 But for Albert Camus, 04:16 it signaled something really, really important. 04:19 He thought of it as this big eureka moment. 04:21 A moment when you finally wake up and realize 04:24 that life is out utterly pointless. 04:26 He says, there's no future reward, 04:28 there is no higher purpose 04:30 and there is no real point to the exercise of living. 04:34 Which brings him to the subject of suicide. 04:38 If life is truly pointless 04:39 and all of us are just waiting for the executioner 04:41 to come and end our time on earth 04:44 then why not just get on with it, 04:45 what's the point of prolonging your agony? 04:48 Now, just in case we're tempted to think that Camus 04:52 was actually suicidal he wasn't. 04:54 In fact, he argues that suicide 04:56 would be the act of a weak minded person. 04:59 And somehow he wasn't convinced that you need meaning 05:02 to make the most of this life. 05:04 Even though a lot of psychologists today 05:07 do suspect that meaning 05:08 might be the deepest need that all of us have. 05:12 Camus would argue though, that meaning is in illusion. 05:15 So if you're gonna enjoy your life 05:17 you have to find another way to do that. 05:19 Most of us he says, are living for the future 05:21 for the hope of reward. 05:23 A reward he says, that's never gonna come. 05:26 Into the way, his way of thinking, 05:28 living for hope that's an active escapism, 05:31 just like suicide is. 05:33 It's a way of avoiding your present which is bad he says, 05:36 because while the present is all you have. 05:39 So the best you can do he argues 05:41 is to live in the present and make the most of it 05:43 just enjoy being alive. 05:46 Quit living for the idea that someday 05:48 the universe will actually reward you for your efforts 05:51 because all of us are headed for oblivion. 05:54 And nobody's going to remember you after your dead. 05:59 Albert Camus had a background in theater, 06:01 so he compares the absurdity of life to an actor 06:05 who is famous one moment and then forgotten the next. 06:08 I'll let him describe his own way of thinking he writes, 06:11 "The actors realm is that of the fleeting. 06:15 Of all kinds of fame it is known his is the most ephemeral." 06:19 So in other words, it just doesn't last very long. 06:22 "At least this is said in conversation, 06:25 but all kinds of fame are ephemeral. 06:27 From the point of Sirius," that's the Dog Star. 06:30 "Goethe's work in 10,000 years 06:33 will be dust and his name forgotten. 06:35 Perhaps a handful of archeologists 06:37 will look for evidence as to our era." 06:40 Now, as Camus himself admits, that's hardly original. 06:43 Millions of people have wondered about 06:46 the apparent pointlessness of life. 06:49 And it's a thought that, 06:50 even appears in the pages of the Bible 06:51 most notably in the book of Ecclesiastes. 06:54 I mean, just listen to this from Ecclesiastes 2. 06:58 And I think I'm gonna read quite a bit of this 07:00 because in some ways it does, 07:02 sort of parallel the point that Camus makes. 07:05 This is comparing the lives of a wise man and a fool. 07:09 And the writer notices that at the end of the road 07:11 both of these people suffer exactly the same fate. 07:15 It says, "The wise man's eyes are in his head, 07:19 but the fool walks in darkness. 07:21 Yet I, myself perceive 07:22 that the same event happens to them all. 07:24 So I said in my heart, as it happens to the fool, 07:27 it also happens to me and why was I then more wise?" 07:33 So in other words he's saying, 07:34 what's the point of investing in myself? 07:36 It continues, "Then I said in my heart, 07:39 'This also is vanity.' 07:41 For there is no more remembrance of the wise man 07:44 than the fool forever since all that now is, 07:46 will be forgotten in the days to come. 07:49 And how does a wise man die? 07:51 As the fool, therefore, I hated life 07:54 because the work that was done under the sun 07:56 was distressing to me for all is vanity 07:59 and grasping for the wind." 08:02 Pretty depressing stuff. 08:04 At least if you leave it right there and quit reading, 08:07 and I'm going to go back and look at it again 08:10 in just a moment, but I've got to take a break right now. 08:13 So don't go away because I'll come back 08:15 to make you feel a little less depressed. 08:19 [gentle music] 08:20 - [Announcer 1] Life can throw a lot at us. 08:22 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 08:25 but that's where the Bible comes in. 08:28 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 08:31 You're at the voice of prophecy. 08:32 We've created the discover Bible guides 08:35 to be your guide to the Bible. 08:36 They're designed to be simple, easy to use 08:39 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions. 08:42 And they're absolutely free. 08:44 So jump online now, 08:45 or give us a call and start your journey of discovery. 08:50 - If there was one word that I personally would use 08:53 to describe Albert Camus, it would be nihilism. 08:58 And I know there are lots of people 08:59 who reject that label for Camus 09:01 because he expanded considerable energy, 09:03 trying to insist that he was actually fighting nihilism. 09:07 He would describe himself as an absurdist, 09:10 which means that he recognize the absurdity of life 09:13 and he chose to fight it instead of accepted. 09:16 But for me personally, 09:18 well, the distinction between Camus 09:19 and somebody like Friedrich Nietzsche is small enough 09:23 that I'm not convinced 09:24 he doesn't deserve the nihilist label. 09:27 And I know some of his fans are screaming right now 09:29 because Camus himself rejected the label. 09:33 I guess I'll just have to live with that. 09:35 But I do wanna get back to this idea 09:36 that human existence is absurd. 09:39 If it is, the question is what are you gonna do about that? 09:43 What you need to do Albert Camus suggests 09:45 is just live in the present. 09:47 Enjoy the fact that you're alive 09:49 and rebel against the absurdity of the universe. 09:52 Forget about the future, 09:54 forget about the past and just live for the present. 09:57 And then he goes on to describe what that might look like. 10:01 He introduces three different characters 10:03 who live an absurdist lifestyle. 10:06 One of them is a seducer a sexually promiscuous person, 10:11 another one is an actor and the third one is a conqueror. 10:15 What each of these people need to do Camus suggest 10:18 is maximize the experience of living 10:20 by engaging in the maximum number of experiences. 10:25 The seducer he says, 10:27 needs to seduce as many people as possible. 10:29 The actor needs to take on as many different roles 10:32 as he can. 10:34 And the conqueror, 10:35 needs to engage in as many conflicts as possible 10:38 because by embracing the challenge, 10:40 the thrill of the present, 10:42 you're actually maximizing your life. 10:44 It doesn't need to mean anything it just needs to happen. 10:49 And it doesn't really matter if you win or lose, 10:51 because what you've done is live in the present 10:53 and just enjoyed it. 10:55 Now, I've got to admit, 10:56 I have made a little bit of a caricature out of this 10:59 because all I have is 28 minutes and 30 seconds 11:01 to summarize the work of a philosopher, 11:03 but that's essentially what he says. 11:06 And then he introduces a fourth character 11:08 the mythological character of Sisyphus. 11:11 As you probably remember from school, 11:13 Sisyphus was condemned by the chief god Zeus. 11:16 And he was forced to push 11:17 the same massive stone up a mountain over and over and over 11:21 for the rest of eternity. 11:23 He would struggle to push it to the top 11:25 and then it would roll back down to the bottom, 11:27 forcing him to just start all over. 11:29 It was a pointless task and Camus compared that 11:33 to the struggle of daily living. 11:36 You and I, he says are gonna put in hard time on this earth 11:39 and in the end, it's all going to be for nothing. 11:43 Here's the way he describes it he says, 11:46 "You have already grasped 11:48 that Sisyphus is the absolute hero. 11:50 He is as much through his passions is through his torture. 11:54 His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, 11:57 and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty 12:00 in which the whole being is exerted 12:02 toward accomplishing nothing." 12:06 The torture of life, 12:07 comes from those moments when we realize that 12:09 everything we do to use the words of Ecclesiastes is vanity. 12:14 All your efforts seem to be in vain. 12:16 So the only choice people have 12:18 at least from Camus perspective 12:20 is to accept an absurdity 12:22 and find a level of contentment as you rebel against it. 12:26 "The struggle itself toward the heights," Camus argues 12:29 "Is enough to fill a man's heart." 12:33 I don't know about you but I'm not happy with that. 12:35 And this is where I have to part company with this man. 12:38 Not because the struggle of life can't be enjoyable 12:41 but because it doesn't seem to match reality 12:44 as much as Camus thinks it does. 12:48 For this guy those occasional moments 12:50 when life seems pointless, 12:52 he thinks that's the sum total of reality. 12:55 For me, those are more like glitches 12:57 in the process of understanding reality. 13:00 The vast majority of people do find meaning in life. 13:03 And it seems to me 13:04 that we might want to apply Occam's razor here. 13:07 The most obvious explanation Ockham argued 13:10 is probably the right one. 13:12 What you don't wanna do, 13:14 is build your perception of the universe on the exception, 13:18 on a brief moment of confusion. 13:20 What you wanna do is build it 13:22 the way that the vast majority of people 13:24 have understood the nature of existence 13:26 for a really, really long time. 13:29 Occam's razor suggests 13:30 that most people are probably right about life 13:33 it means something. 13:34 The confusing parts of life are not the rule, 13:37 they're the exception. 13:39 Now, before I protest any further, 13:42 let me underline a few things I think Camus got right, 13:45 because there are points of intersection 13:47 between his absurdist approach to life 13:49 and the way the Bible 13:51 describes the nature of human existence. 13:54 We've already seen how the book of Ecclesiastes admits 13:57 quite openly that life can often seem pointless, 14:02 but that's just a tiny sliver of the biblical worldview 14:05 and I'm gonna come back to that in just a moment. 14:08 But for now, let me give some credit 14:10 where credit is probably due. 14:12 To some extent Camus is right, 14:14 all you really have is the present. 14:17 And I'll be the first to admit 14:19 that some Christians really downplay 14:21 the value of living in the present 14:23 because they put all of their emphasis on the afterlife. 14:27 Now, to be sure the Bible does present an afterlife 14:30 and a future reward is major reasons to go on striving 14:34 against the hardship of this world. 14:36 And I really do believe 14:38 that someday you and I are gonna answer for the present. 14:41 That's gonna happen in the future, 14:43 but that doesn't mean this present doesn't matter. 14:46 Let me show you what I mean, in the Sermon on the Mountain 14:49 Jesus says something that I think more people 14:52 should probably take to heart. 14:54 He's talking about worry, 14:56 which is really the art of borrowing trouble 14:59 from the future here's what Jesus says, He says, 15:02 "Therefore, do not worry 15:05 saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink 15:07 or what shall we wear for after all these things, 15:11 the Gentiles seek. 15:13 For your Heavenly Father 15:14 knows that you need all these things 15:16 but seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness 15:19 and all these things shall be added to you. 15:21 Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow 15:24 for tomorrow will worry about its own things. 15:27 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." 15:31 So on the one hand, 15:33 Jesus does point us forward to the Kingdom of God, 15:36 which is a reward that you can look forward to. 15:38 But at the same time, 15:39 He underlines the value of the present 15:42 and He counsels you to live in it 15:45 because all you really have is today. 15:48 So in some tiny way, we can find an intersection 15:52 between Albert Camus and the Bible. 15:54 Far too many people in this world live neurotically 15:57 because their entire existence is based on the future 16:01 and they're missing the life they have today. 16:05 So what some people practice in this world 16:07 is something called mindfulness, 16:09 which is really just paying attention to your life 16:13 as it presents itself right now. 16:15 And we know that just learning to live in the present 16:18 can bring relief to people 16:19 who suffer from crippling anxiety. 16:22 Now, to be clear there is a version of mindfulness 16:25 that Christians tend to avoid 16:27 because it comes loaded with a lot of, 16:29 well, contrary religious ideas. 16:32 But as we've just seen, 16:33 there is also a biblical way to be mindful. 16:37 Here's another example where the Bible underlines 16:39 the value of living in the present, 16:41 or be it in kind of a roundabout way. 16:44 In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul is discussing 16:48 the importance of the resurrection of Christ. 16:51 And here's what he says, he writes, 16:53 "And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile 16:57 you are still in your sins. 16:59 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ 17:02 have perished, if in this life only we have hope in Christ 17:06 we are of all men, the most pitiable." 17:10 So you'll notice that Paul is arguing against the idea that, 17:14 death is actually final forever 17:16 because Christ has promised the resurrection of the dead. 17:20 And the fact that Jesus rose from the dead 17:23 means that you and I have something to look forward to. 17:26 If that isn't true Paul says, 17:28 then the dead have simply perished, 17:30 which is exactly what Camus used to preach. 17:33 Then Paul says, 17:35 "That if we only have hope in Christ for this lifetime 17:38 then we should be pitied." 17:41 Now, if you look at that carefully, 17:42 it's a bit of a double-edged sword. 17:44 On the one hand, 17:45 if we come to the conclusion that this life is all we have 17:49 that's a really depressing thought, 17:51 but at the same time I want you to notice that Paul does say 17:55 that we have hope in Christ in this lifetime. 18:01 Off course, Camus would argue that hope is ridiculous. 18:04 And what you're hoping for isn't going to happen 18:06 because death is just gonna come for you at any moment now. 18:09 Paul does not think hope is ridiculous 18:12 and reminds us that we have hope both in the future 18:16 and now in this lifetime. 18:18 Now, I do have to go and take another quick break 18:20 but don't go away because I wanna come back 18:23 and quickly examine some real problems 18:25 with "The Myth of Sisyphus," I'll be right back after this. 18:30 [gentle music] 18:31 - [Announcer 1] Life can throw a lot at us. 18:33 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 18:36 but that's where the Bible comes in. 18:39 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 18:42 You're at the voice of prophecy. 18:44 We've created the discover Bible guides 18:46 to be your guide to the Bible. 18:47 They're designed to be simple, easy to use 18:50 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions 18:53 and they're absolutely free. 18:55 So jump online now, 18:56 or give us a call and start your journey of discovery. 19:01 - You know, there's one more little area of agreement 19:03 I think I can find between Camus and the Bible 19:06 and that's Camus's insistence on learning contentment. 19:10 In his mind, the endless task of Sisyphus 19:12 became better when he learned to be content. 19:15 And that's actually an idea that Paul taught as well 19:19 in his letter to the Philippians here's what Paul says, 19:22 "I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. 19:26 Everywhere and in old things, 19:27 I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, 19:30 both to abound and to suffer need." 19:34 You know, that's probably great advice 19:36 for one of the most entitled generations 19:38 to ever live on this planet. 19:39 You and I have more stuff, 19:41 we have a higher standard of living 19:43 than any generation in history 19:44 and yet we find ourselves dissatisfied. 19:48 Our appetite for self-indulgence 19:50 apparently is a bottomless pit. 19:52 And the only cure for that is content. 19:56 You know, one of the things I like about Camus 19:58 is just how quotable he is. 19:59 Back in college, I found myself enjoying his books 20:02 because he really does have a gift for stating his ideas 20:06 in a way that forces you to stop and think. 20:09 And it was obvious to me that in his early childhood, 20:12 which was fatherless 20:14 and the tough time he had navigating the world as a kid, 20:17 and the fact that his marriage failed in less than a year 20:19 and his career ambitions were ruined by tuberculosis. 20:22 And while all of this stuff 20:24 probably contributed to his rather bleak outlook on life. 20:28 And to be sure sometimes a hard life 20:31 brings out the best in people 20:32 because it does seem to generate a level of creativity. 20:37 But what I don't enjoy about Camus is the solution. 20:41 I know that some people find what he writes comforting 20:43 but I sure don't. 20:45 In fact, I find some of the implications horrific. 20:48 The only way to fight meaninglessness he says, 20:51 is to expand your experiences 20:52 and prolong your life as much as possible. 20:54 Living in the present is all you've got so maximize it. 21:00 So here's the problem with that, 21:02 it's really hard to maintain any kind of morality 21:05 when your goal is to maximize the present. 21:07 I mean, let's just consider the case of the seducer, 21:10 the person that Camus argued had learned to be an absurdist. 21:14 The goal of the seducer remember is to seduce 21:17 as many people as possible. 21:19 And he uses Don Juan as his example, 21:21 a man who just lives to satiate his physical appetite. 21:26 But what that leaves you with 21:27 is a much higher propensity for heightened selfishness. 21:31 If all we have is now, 21:33 then why not adopt Aleister Crowley's maxim, 21:36 which says, "Do what you will." 21:38 I mean, some noble philosopher 21:41 might be able to cobble together a decently moral life 21:44 but how are the vast majority of people 21:47 going to respond to Camus's way of thinking? 21:50 They're gonna respond like the seducer 21:53 and what the seducer does in the real world 21:56 is leave behind a trail of hurt people. 21:59 Sexual relationships, 22:00 it turns out are not just physical acts 22:02 they have a deep emotional component. 22:04 And what happens when somebody uses other people 22:07 for personal satisfaction 22:09 is that they cause significant damage to somebody else. 22:12 What you get is a drunken frat boy 22:15 who sees a girl as nothing but a conquest. 22:17 And in the act of intimacy, 22:19 the human body emits high levels of oxytocin, 22:22 a hormone that bonds us to other people, 22:25 it's actually called the love hormone. 22:27 And it's the same chemical 22:28 that surfaces in greater quantities 22:30 when a mother is breastfeeding a newborn. 22:33 It creates a deep emotional connection 22:37 and it teaches you to trust people. 22:39 So what happens when the seducer uses other people 22:43 is that he's actually destroying 22:44 somebody else's capacity to trust. 22:48 And he's also missing out on the significant rewards 22:50 that come from long-term committed relationships. 22:53 Camus might not want you to focus on the future 22:57 but I can tell you, after nearly 30 years of marriage 23:00 that the future is well worth investing in. 23:04 As he wrestled with all these ideas, 23:06 Camus tried very hard to cling to some kind of morality. 23:10 But personally, I do find this approach kind of empty. 23:14 I mean, he wants us to rebel to push back against absurdity, 23:17 but you've got to wonder what's the point of pushing back 23:20 because wouldn't that also be meaningless, 23:23 wouldn't you also just be pushing back against nothing? 23:28 I honestly think, 23:30 that Camus was a little bit scared of his own conclusions 23:32 and he tried very hard to make it seem like, 23:34 living for the present is enough. 23:37 But you really have to wonder 23:39 what the world would be like if everybody just did that. 23:43 Now, before we're finished, 23:44 I wanna offer you a biblical suggestion 23:46 for why the world so often seems meaningless 23:49 and life can feel so pointless. 23:52 You find the beginnings of an answer 23:53 in the opening words of Psalm 8 where the Bible says, 23:58 "O Lord our Lord, 24:00 how excellent is your name in all of the earth, 24:02 who have set your glory above the heavens." 24:05 According to this, the universe exists 24:08 to display the glory of the creator it goes on in verse 3, 24:12 "When I consider your heavens the work of your fingers, 24:14 the moon and the stars, which you have ordained 24:17 what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man 24:20 that you visit him?" 24:22 I would argue, that one of the key reasons 24:24 we find the universe absurd or meaningless 24:27 is because we've convinced ourselves 24:29 that the universe answers to us. 24:31 But according to the Bible, 24:32 the universe answers to the creator. 24:36 And what you and I have done 24:37 is detach ourselves from reality, 24:39 and we've placed ourselves rather narcissistically 24:42 at the center of attention. 24:44 Then when the universe doesn't respond like we hope 24:47 we begin to think that our existence 24:49 must be absurd, I'll be right back after this. 24:55 - [Announcer 2] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 24:59 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 25:04 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation 25:06 and come away scratching your head, you're not alone. 25:09 Our free focus on prophecy guides 25:12 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 25:14 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 25:17 for you and our world. 25:18 Study online, or request them by mail 25:21 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 25:25 - The moment we pulled away from God 25:27 and we wanted to be the center of the universe's attention, 25:29 that's the moment that life began to seem pointless. 25:32 And I'm convinced that's what Camus was witnessing. 25:36 When we live for self, we run into all kinds of problems 25:38 because we're asking the universe to answer to us. 25:41 And it was created to answer to God. 25:44 In fact, according to the scriptures, 25:46 you and I were also created to answer to God. 25:49 In the city of Athens, Paul explains it this way 25:52 to a group of Greek philosophers he says to them, 25:56 "For in Him we live and move and have our being 25:59 as also some of your own poets have said, 26:02 'For we are also His offspring.'" 26:06 Detach yourself away from your original design 26:08 and you're gonna stop finding purpose. 26:10 The self-importance that we insist on leaves us 26:13 without any importance at all 26:15 because we were not designed for this. 26:18 I guess you could say that apart from the creator, 26:20 we're like a fish trying to ride a bike. 26:22 We're using a machine, 26:24 the universe that was not designed to glorify us. 26:28 A self-driven existence where you live for the present 26:31 often devolves into sheer hedonism, 26:33 the practice of living for pleasure. 26:35 And as millions of disillusioned people could tell you, 26:38 there is a future reward for hedonism, 26:41 a price that you're going to pay and it isn't very pleasant. 26:46 We cannot afford to forget 26:48 that the present we create right now 26:50 is going to be our present at some point in the future. 26:53 And if you ignore the advice of the one who made you, 26:55 you're probably gonna find that future really hard to enjoy. 27:02 Listen, I'll agree with Camus on this, 27:04 the answer to a difficult life really is not suicide 27:09 there is a point to all this. 27:11 And at the same time, 27:12 the answer isn't living for self in the present. 27:16 A situation where strong people 27:18 always seem to trample on the weak 27:19 and pursuit of their own happiness. 27:22 I can assure you after sitting with, 27:24 I don't know how many dying people now 27:26 that kind of life almost always ends badly 27:30 it almost always leads to regret. 27:32 The real answer, 27:34 is found in discovering the one in whom we live 27:36 and move and have our being. 27:37 And understanding that the universe only seems absurd 27:42 because you and I made it look that way 27:44 when we pulled away from the real reason for its existence. 27:49 And living in the present to some extent it's a good idea, 27:52 but that's not all there is. 27:55 There is a future to look forward to 27:57 and there is a point to life 27:59 and you'll find them in the pages of this book. 28:02 Thanks for joining me again this week, I'm Shawn Boonstra. 28:04 You've been listening to "Authentic." 28:07 [upbeat music] |
Revised 2021-11-11