If we don’t know where we’re going, what does where we arrive matter? If we don’t have directions, our lives become a series of cul-de-sacs, blind alleys, and we constantly are beating our heads up against that proverbial brick wall. There’s a somewhat funny story about a cowboy which speaks to our normal patterns. He was camping out on the prairie. When it came time to cook breakfast, he couldn’t find any kindling or firewood. Smart as he was, he decided to light the prairie grass and hold his skillet over the flame. A wind came up and the flame began to move along rather rapidly through the grass, but he kept his skillet over it, and it worked. But by the time he had cooked his eggs, his coffee was three miles away.
That’s a parable of life. The winds of the world blow and would take the fire of our life in all sorts of directions. Likewise, the wind of the spirit blows, and as Jesus said, “we know not from where it comes or whither it goes.” But we hear it, and we feel it.
All of this has made me ponder more the purpose of purpose. I mean by that, purpose is critical and an absolute essential in our lives, especially “the living of these days.” Our nation and the Church (the denomination) of which I’m a part is in a mess. Our nation’s two political parties are “at war,” and you can almost feel the hatred in their rhetoric and relationships. My denomination is experiencing division, and a new expression has already been established.
It is easy to sink into expressions of despair. We are saved by our commitments because it is our commitments that give us purpose.
In 2007, Gallop asked people around the world whether they felt they were living meaningful lives. Interestingly, Liberia was the country where the most people felt a sense of meaning and purpose. The Netherlands was the place where the lowest percentage of people did.
I am shocked, even now, when I ponder that. I have visited both countries and would have thought it would be just the opposite. Liberia is full of turmoil and strife. Maybe it is particularly that turmoil and strife which causes them to make fierce commitments to one another in order to survive. These fierce commitments cause them to risk their lives for one another. It is these commitments that gives their lives meaning.
That’s at the core of the purpose of purpose: commitment and meaning.