“A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder” -Thomas Carlyle
Adventures in Wonderland
In Lewis Carroll’s, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” Alice is wandering in an unfamiliar forest when she meets the Cheshire Cat.
“Would you tell me please, which way I ought to go from here?” she asked.
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the cat.
“I don’t much care where,” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the cat.
Christians who do not know their purpose in life are like that. They do not realize their purpose and so they wander through life looking for one.
Mid Life Crisis?
Philosopher Thomas Carlyle once said, “A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder–a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.”
In 1957 a 40 year old man, Elliott Jaques, stood before the British Psycho-Analytical Society and read from a paper he had written. In this paper Jaques claimed to have identified a psychological phenomena of a state of depression that people in their mid-30’s enter into. This depression could last many years. He coined this state of depression a “mid-life crisis” and claimed to have discovered it by studying the lives of great artists. Jaques wrote that it is in artists that this “mid-life crisis” takes extreme forms.
From a psychological perspective it is thought that this state of depression is brought about by a sudden realization of one’s own mortality and awareness of their lack of accomplishments. The “mid-life crisis” has worked its way into popular culture and is all but accepted as a given state that will (or has) afflict every person.
But I think there is another way to look at this mid point in our lives.
As we mature, we begin to look for meaning in our lives. We spend our youth learning about the world and about ourselves. We discover our interests, talents and abilities, and sharpen them to a high degree. And then, we grow restless. We look for our purpose. We question why we are here and what we are meant to be doing. If we do not find the answer we can become frustrated and anxious. We need a guide, much like Dante in his “Inferno” is guided by the spirit of Virgil.
Augustine of Hippo
Saint Augustine of Hippo is regarded as a doctor of the Church. It is a titled bestowed on someone who has made significant contributions to theology or Church doctrine through their writings. To date, after 2000 years only 36 men and women have been given this title.
Augustine is regarded as one of the Church’s greatest theologians, but the first half of his life would not have suggested the brilliance of the second. Although his mother was Christian, he rejected the faith and in his late teens or early twenties, he became a Manichaean. Manichaeism holds several beliefs that are antithetical to Christian thinking. For Augustine, chief among them seems to be the idea that we are not personally responsible for our misdeeds.
But at the age of 31, Augustine experienced a conversion of the heart and embraced the faith he was brought up in. He was eventually ordained a priest and then made bishop of Hippo Regius (now Annaba) in Algeria. He was a renowned preacher, and author and is a tremendous influence on Western Christian thought.
Saint Augustine realized the answer to our restlessness, is God. “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Late have I loved you, Beauty ever old and ever new.” He may have regretted what he thought of as misspent youth, but God works all things for the good. The saint’s early life as a teacher, orator, and rhetorician, as well as his experience with Manichaesim, prepared him to take up his mission in life. Indeed he became an outspoken critic of Manichaeism, something that would have been difficult for him without first-hand experience.
God wastes nothing. All of our experiences, our interests, our talents, combine to give us a unique approach to our mission, to win hearts and minds for God.
The Great Comission
When Jesus ascended to the Father, His disciples had every reason to feel frustrated and anxious. They had just lost their beloved leader for the second time. And yet Saint Luke tells us they returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They were joyful because Christ revealed to them their mission, their purpose in life. Their lives now had meaning.
It is the same mission that God has given to each of us, to be His witnesses, to carry the message of the Gospel to all the nations of the world. How we accomplish this mission will be different for each one of us, according to those interests, talents, and abilities we have discovered within ourselves.
We may all have the same purpose in life, But God has given each of us a different set gifts to accomplish that purpose. We are all charged to spread the Gospel throughout the world but we do so in many different ways. We may be writers, or artists, or singers, or we may just enjoy talking to people and getting to know them.
Each of these is way to spread the Word. And it may be that we have each been given a particular combination of gifts in order to reach just one other person. If we fail in our purpose, the result may be a soul lost to the darkness for all of eternity.
This is the core of the Gospel message. The salvation of mankind is offered to the entire world through the witness of His followers, the witness of the Church.
At the end of every mass Christ blesses us, through His priest, and renews our mission.
Pax vobiscum