the anecdote


“What man needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggle toward a worthwhile goal.” -Victor Frank


I started reading Man’s Search For Meaning a while back and put it down with 48% completion on my kindle oasis. One fateful night, I was drinking rum with a brother in Christ the night before finals. He told me a LOT happens in the last 52%. I took his word for it, and, while I think he was wrong about many things, he was right about that. 

The cornerstone idea of the text is this: We should not ask vaguely what is the meaning of life. It is life that demands an answer from us. Not a vague notion but a concrete meaning that each individual is responsible for. Frankl states there are 3 ways of doing this. 

1. By doing a deed or creating something. (writing a magnum opus)

2. By experiencing something or through loving someone. 

3. By bearing unavoidable suffering the best you can. (terminal cancer)

These three meanings could be found at any time and anywhere in the world of the mighty logos. But if you don’t do the work then the meaning stays there in a dormant state, and the gap between who you are right now and the person you could become remains the exact same. Ever present are the glittering traps of pleasure, money, and power. Many stay stuck in them their whole life going through the motions sick with a disease they have chosen. But, even in them there is potential if only they lift up their eyes to see what has always been in their midst. 

We always have an area, or more accurately, many areas where who we are is not who we could be. We all have these moments to choose to reach towards the heavens or settle for less than. The consequence of the latter is that we reap what we sow, mediocrity at best. Disillusionment or evil at worst. Everyday we are given such moments. And if we fall — when we fall, we have tomorrow to get up and try again. 

Pay attention to who and what calls you upwards and lean in. Julián at Muay Thai training made me want to work harder. The sculpture on Callao makes me want to be a strong husband. The Anastasis Icon fills me with hope. Certain Psalms call out directly — Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. If we take the courage to ask for what we are afraid to ask for, and do what we know we are meant to do, then we can plant seeds of righteousness. And the Lord only knows what that might bring. 

First Pay attention, then act it out. If it doesn’t change your life in any tangible way then it is WORTHLESS. Belief is manifested through action. How you treat your neighbor, how you act when no one is watching. Belief itself is a mystery, and faith is predicated on the unknown, but the fruit of it is not. That part is simple. And the feedback is instant thanks to our inner consciousness. 

Pay attention…to what makes you feel guilty. It is different for everyone. The spiritual journey tends to be an upward spiral. Slowly things that you used to be okay with will start to nudge you when you say or do them. What is very interesting is that the same action may fill you with guilt and shame while another time it doesn’t. It is very dynamic and cuts right to the heart. How else could the same action produce two outcomes? It is a spiritual battle. We have been given good things, like sex drugs and rock and roll. None of these are evil, and all of them teach you something about God. There is a divine element to all creation, to all of us too. To us especially. 

Similarly, you also find ways to be a more loving person. We are capable of change, it would be hopeless otherwise. Pay attention, when you’re wronged, first look in the mirror. 1. You too have fallen before. 2. It rarely is ever the entire fault of a single person. So, make your bed, choose to put your brother or sister’s needs ahead of yours, and look past faces and into people’s souls. There is so much beauty we miss because we box people into the physical. Christ. I want to follow Christ. He looked past the physical. 

People are a mystery that is impossible to fully comprehend. This makes marriage a little less scary. Even exciting because you get to go deeper into another’s soul in a way you are not able to without a commitment to stay together through hell or high water. Don’t be afraid, commit. The person you marry, yourself, and your relationship will change over time. How do you stay together with all that complexity? A vow to the sacred is a good start. Commitment is not a one done though. That would be too easy. It is a daily walk.


Pay attention to your highest callings and to the lowest depths.

Pay attention to your yearnings and to the breath in your lungs

Pay attention, yet don’t be deaf or speak with a haughty tongue

Only walk slowly, on your way to the most Holy.


Exhibit A


Exibit B

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