Well, I continue to read. This is one of life’s enjoyments for me.
Part of my reading time has been in a book by Joel Thiessen – The Meaning of Sunday. Joel is a Sociology professor at Ambrose University (my alma mater).
Here is a sentence you will find interesting – for your “tinker boxer” today (for those not acquainted with low German approaches to the English language – tinker boxer refers to the “thinking” box we call the brain).
Rational choice scholars should cease to naively equate and confuse the pursuit of meaning and purpose with unending and widespread demand for religion. (p. 117)
OK, I couldn’t resist making a small comment here!
In my upbringing, proving that life had meaning and purpose meant that everyone would naturally move towards religion – where ultimate purpose and meaning was to be found. That just made common sense to us.
Just because something makes sense to us (rational and objective), doesn’t mean that others use the same approach to sense. There is no longer a common understanding of “common sense” other than an individual’s understanding of their own sense of truth is now “common sense”. In other words, we no longer have a common definition of common sense.
For many, “sense” is to be equated with feeling, desire and love – intangibles found in the equation we call life. Family, friends, job, recreational activity and volunteer opportunities make sense of the pursuit of meaning and purpose for many in life. And that is often enough for those who live in this moment of time, for those who have no desire for an ultimate understanding of the eternity of time.
Just because we “prove” that ultimate meaning can be found in Jesus Christ does not mean that others will fall in line with us. If anything, until they experience a sense of love, a desire for the unknown and an explicit display of the transformative power of God will they begin to tread the path Christians have trod.