A man's search for meaning: Where agency matters most
Treven Lowry
Period 3a4a
Ms. CoxSeminar
Where agency matters most
Final
The essence of living, without emotion is something alien to human life, for life is only true when emotion is present. The essence of death, without mental and spiritual control is also alien to us; for death is only a physical thing, and we are more than just a physical thing. The question that now awaits us, is how. How can we have a choice in an undefeatable fate? How is there still a freedom for us to grasp, even unto the end of physical control? An endless list of questions in correlation with this idea may seem apparent, but after reading A Mans Search For
Meaning, I have found one answer that can satisfy any question of that sort: As much as we are physical beings, we are also mental, and spiritual beings. We are not singular in nature; therefore, we are full of meaning; whether at a physical, mental, or spiritual level. Going into a mental aspect, you will see that the mind is the thing that pertains and evaluates our physical surroundings. Without the mind, there would be no emotion, no life; but even when our mind is soaring with evaluative enlightenment, and emotional understanding, there is still something we lack: The capability to spiritually comprehend the big picture. If we were able to have a broader perspective in that sense, death would not be a time of loss and mourning, and life would be viewed as more fragile and meaningful. Our mental capacity of evaluation is relatively small, compared to what a spiritual and eternal capacity is capable of; even life and death itself becomes insignificant if eternity is your comparison. Looking into Viktor Frankl’s experience,
we see a point, describing that a situation seeming to be very overwhelming at the time, is not overwhelming in the big picture. Thus we see there is more to a situation than a physical circumstance, there is a meaning. There is always a meaning in everything
Period 3a4a
Ms. CoxSeminar
Where agency matters most
Final
The essence of living, without emotion is something alien to human life, for life is only true when emotion is present. The essence of death, without mental and spiritual control is also alien to us; for death is only a physical thing, and we are more than just a physical thing. The question that now awaits us, is how. How can we have a choice in an undefeatable fate? How is there still a freedom for us to grasp, even unto the end of physical control? An endless list of questions in correlation with this idea may seem apparent, but after reading A Mans Search For
Meaning, I have found one answer that can satisfy any question of that sort: As much as we are physical beings, we are also mental, and spiritual beings. We are not singular in nature; therefore, we are full of meaning; whether at a physical, mental, or spiritual level. Going into a mental aspect, you will see that the mind is the thing that pertains and evaluates our physical surroundings. Without the mind, there would be no emotion, no life; but even when our mind is soaring with evaluative enlightenment, and emotional understanding, there is still something we lack: The capability to spiritually comprehend the big picture. If we were able to have a broader perspective in that sense, death would not be a time of loss and mourning, and life would be viewed as more fragile and meaningful. Our mental capacity of evaluation is relatively small, compared to what a spiritual and eternal capacity is capable of; even life and death itself becomes insignificant if eternity is your comparison. Looking into Viktor Frankl’s experience,
we see a point, describing that a situation seeming to be very overwhelming at the time, is not overwhelming in the big picture. Thus we see there is more to a situation than a physical circumstance, there is a meaning. There is always a meaning in everything
Cited: ● Frankl, Viktor. A Man’s Search For Meaning. Boston: Beacon Press, 2006. Print