Stubborn Old Wounds

Continuing with the question of the meaning of life, I started wondering if religious people have already found it.

By all definitions, practitioners have. They live their life according to an ethos that they consider to be the Truth about reality and the correct way to govern life. I think that's one thing that's always felt off to me about practicing religion - there's a certain sense of being a finished product.

I realize that for some that sort of thing could put them on the defensive - we all want to feel like we're growing. Getting better. Moving forward. But realistically speaking, someone who practices a religion has already gotten life figured out.

Perhaps the meaning of life needs to be split up into two separate categories. One is an all-encompassing answer to why we're all here. And the other is a question of what your particular life is supposed to mean.

There's a tension in saying that you've got it all figured out. I mean, we all have to live by some directive. We've all got life figured out to the point that we can live it effectively. But the question of what one person is here for - that's something that could take an entire lifetime. It's something to grow in. Something to get better at. Something to move forward with.

A wise person once suggested that I read Lewis's On Obstinacy and Belief. I did. It was great. There's one particular section that seems to speak to the meaning of life - at least the meaning as interpreted by a believer.

Lewis describes the faith of someone in trouble - a dog stuck in a trap is one example - and the belief that although the person saving him is sometimes giving messages contradictory to common sense - i.e. you have to put your foot farther into the trap in order to get it out - the savior really does know best. According to Lewis, humans must live like that dog in the trap, assuming that the creator knows all things and has information that we don't. This is an illustration of the trust that must exist in the creator's plan.

So the meaning of life is essentially one of transferring the knowledge of the universe to a being that already has it and keeping a close eye and ear to what instructions that being has to give. And then following them.

I keep going back in my mind on how good an illustration that is.