Our Purpose

What is the meaning of our lives?


One of my favorite movies is Oh God,
    the one starring George Burns as God
         and John Denver as His prophet.

A great line from the movie is God's explanation
      of the meaning of our lives:

He said,
     "Your life means exactly what you think it means,
           no more and no less."

Like most great truths that come to us,
     this statement presents us with 
           an opportunity and a challenge.

Those two things are part and parcel of each other.

The opportunity is our ability to define our lives
    along with their meaning.

The challenge is
   that no one else is going to do the defining for us.

We ourselves decide what to make
    of this gift we have been given
        called life.

I have heard at least one person
     whom I greatly respected 
             strongly question the idea
                     that life is a gift.

The friend of whom I speak was a
  Journalism professor at U of I and a near
     Charter member of UUCP.

The statement that life is a gift
      is part of the weekly liturgy at UUCP,
            so my friend was struck with a statement
                  with which he disagreed
                        week after week.

At least as Unitarian Universalists,
     we are allowed to disagree with the words
          we hear the congregation saying
             or even the words a preacher or teacher says
                and any of the theology that is presented.

I still believe that life is a gift.

Very often, it is a gift we give each other.

Sometimes that is more obvious than at other times.

A young man recently donated part of his liver
        to save the life of his beloved mother.

At first she was inclined to refuse the gift,
 but when she realized that he really wanted to do it,
   what could she do but accept the love he offered
      when she had surely taught him to love like that
        in the first place?

The rest of her life is a gift,
      given to her by her own son.

My friend who questioned the idea that life is a gift
    was himself a man of great compassion.

He had a hard time thinking of life as a gift
    when so many people have such hard lives,
         struggling every day just to survive
             and many suffer so much pain along the way.

I remember a story
          that is important to me
               when I think of whether or not
                    life is truly a gift.

I believe I have spoken before
     about the spiritual renewal movement
            known as Cursillo.

It began in Spain in the early 20th Century,
     partly as a spiritual preparation
           for the pilgrimage to the shrine
               of Santiago de Compostela.

Cursillo uses many ancient techniques
     known to facilitate individual spiritual growth:
         silence, meditation, worship,
              talks and round table discussions.

The Methodist version of Cursillo is known as
      The Walk to Emmaus,
           and the Lutheran version is known as
                Via de Cristo (the Way of Christ).

I have been active in both
     the Methodist and Lutheran versions of Cursillo.

The story I'm wanting to share with you
     is from a talk
        during one of the Lutheran Via de Cristo
             weekends where the lay leader gave a talk
                   about "Leaders."

The idea of that talk is to encourage members
   to exercise leadership in their local congregations.

As my friend, the lay leader of the weekend,
   was preparing her talk about leaders,
       a thought kept occurring to her,
           one that she could not shake,
               no matter how hard she tried.

In her local congregation,
    an infant was born to an active, faithful couple.

The child suffered from the syndrome known as
                       failure to thrive.

There can be many causes,
     but the end result for an infant
          is that child never gains enough weight
                 or grows sufficiently
                       to survive.

In the case in question,
       the baby only lived a few weeks,
                and yet my friend kept thinking
                      that the little one was truly a leader
                             for the congregation as a whole.

At first, the idea seemed ridiculous to her,
   that an infant who lived
     such a short time could be a leader,
        but she could not shake it,
            and upon reflection,
                my friend remembered
                    how much love was given and received
                          exactly when it was needed most.

The little one who left them much too soon
      inspired love and care
            among people who needed only
                 the call and the inspiration to provide it.

That brief life had meaning and purpose!

The meaning and purpose were seen in the results
              in the lives of others,
                          and that is a common theme
                                   in the meaning of our lives.

How do we affect the lives of the people around us?

Like a great many things of basic importance,
      I'm convinced
             that the meaning of our lives
                      comes down to love.

In terms of the meaning of life,
       love is much more than an emotion.

It is a commitment to care,
       even (and maybe especially)
               when caring is difficult and costly.

If we care about each other,
       we give ourselves - and each other -
               meaning in all our lives.

Love and meaning are not only connected by giving:
        Receiving love is just as important.

Being loved and cared for is difficult at times,
      but if our lives are to have meaning,
           accepting the love and care of others
                is just as vital as giving it.

Our thoughts and our choices deeply affect
    the meaning of our lives.

What we think of each other
     affects what our own lives mean
          and to a lesser degree
               what the lives of the others
                    about whom we are thinking mean,
                          even if they never know it.

You see, I'm also convinced
      that we are deeply connected to one another,
            whether we know it or like it or not.

Keeping our connection positive
      is a powerful and important contribution
           to the meaning of our lives.

Some of us do make that difficult at times!

It's easy to maintain a positive connection
     with people whom we naturally love
           especially when they love us, too.

People whose lives are difficult
     and who seem to take pleasure
           in making life difficult for others
                 are much harder to love
                      and maintain a positive connection with.

Yet love is the key.

We may not be able to maintain positive feelings
      at least for long at a time,
            but we can commit ourselves to care
                 to be kind
                       and to work on thinking good thoughts
                             even if we don't get anything good
                                  in return.

As the saying goes,
     "Be kind;
           everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

We find the meaning of life in kindness.

Our purpose in life is to love one another.

Does that sound like a cliché?

Maybe it is,
     but if so, it's an important one.

If our lives are to have meaning,
      we will have to assign the meaning.

If our lives are to have purpose ,
      we will have to choose our purpose.

I can't think of better meaning and purpose
     for any of us
         than to love one another,
              to accept love from one another,
                    and to inspire and encourage each other
                         to give and receive love.

Finally, in closing today's sermon, I want to share the last sentence from the Prayer of the Day (formerly known as the Collect) for liturgical churches (Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopal, primarily) from last Sunday (May 26):

Nourish us with your word, that empowered by your Spirit we may love one another and the world you have made.

It can encourage us to know
   that our love is not given only to one another,
        but also to the world in which we live.

We are not the only faith community to affirm
           this basic and important truth.

The meaning and the purpose of our lives
     is to love one another,
           to receive love from each other,
                  and to love the world in which we live.

Amen.

So mote it be.

Blessed be.