Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.

By CoyotePrime (Reporter)
Contributor profile | More stories

Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

What is the Measure of a Life?

Saturday, October 5, 2019 19:57

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.

“What is the Measure of a Life?”

by David B. Seaburn

“In the early to mid-1970s when I was leaving college and entering seminary I came upon the writing of Sam Keen, a professor of philosophy, theology and, well, life. His book “Apology for Wonder” (1969) was written on the heels of the God-is-dead movement that captivated the mid-1960s, something that never reached the western Pennsylvania town where I grew up Presbyterian. Despite missing God’s death, I found Keen’s focus on wonder and meaning and gratitude to be refreshing whether God was the source or not.

Recently, I rediscovered “Apology” on the shelves where books from that era of my life have found a home. I leafed through its pages eagerly, scouring the passages that I had underlined or starred. One such passage was not only underlined, but a long line framed it in the margin, and beside that line, a dark squiggly line for emphasis. It was clearly “the signpost up ahead,” so I read it:

“Every man [let’s just say that if Keen wrote this today, it would, in all likelihood, read ‘man and woman’] covets the opportunity to take the measure of his life and be able to pronounce the judgment, ‘It is good.’ And it is only to the degree that we are able to forge the diverse moments of pain and pleasure, emptiness and fullness, loneliness and love, and failure and success into a meaningful and gracious whole that we are able to escape the resentment and the bitterness which form the roots of… neurosis and despair…the most significant index we have of the stature of a man is the amount of pain and tragedy he has been able to bear and still rejoice in the gift of life.” (p. 208)

I am surprised that at age twenty-two, I was thinking at all about taking the measure of my life, something I could have done in five minutes with a twelve inch ruler. Now that I am at an age when measuring one’s life makes complete sense, I am struck again by the ingredients in Keen’s stew: Meaning, Grace, Wholeness.

Everyone constitutes meaning in a different way depending on their circumstances. For me, meaning has come through the family in which I grew up, a wife of forty-three years, two daughters and a son-in-law, two granddaughters; through work committed to improving the well-being of other people; and through writing. I should add that all of the meaning-defining elements of my life have included ample amounts of both pleasure and pain. How can you love and not feel both?

There are many ways of thinking about grace. As a retired Protestant clergy, I am steeped in the Christian theology of grace, but when I think of my life, I am drawn to more common definitions, such as simple gratitude, or thankfulness for a gift. When I pay close attention to my life, to this puzzling gift, I realize that it is difficult to be thankful without simultaneously feeling humble, since most of what is given is neither expected nor deserved. I only wish that my “eyes were opened” and “I recognized” this gift and felt this humility more often.

When it comes to wholeness, I stumble, because if by whole one means seamless or complete, then I don’t feel whole at all. Instead I feel cracked and even broken in countless ways. But if by whole one means a kind of held-togetherness in spite of it all, a jerry-rigged wedding of meaning and grace, then I am…just about there.”

- https://www.psychologytoday.com/

Source: http://coyoteprime-runningcauseicantfly.blogspot.com/2019/10/what-is-measure-of-life.html

Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!

Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser! Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover - Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Comments

Online:
Visits:	1,602,445,329
Stories:	8,147,124