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Sermons by Reverend Don Beaudreault

Meaning and Purpose
Rev. Don Beaudreault
Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota, FL
October 16, 2005

OPENING READING: "I am an infidel."

I am an infidel in the true sense of that word.

There is no personal salvation; there is no national salvation, except through science.

Our lives, as we live them are passed on to others, whether in physical or mental forms, tingeing all future lives forever. This should be enough for one who lives for truth and service to his fellow passengers on the way.

Luther Burbank

MEDITATION READING: from A Reason for Living

Everything considered, our existence pivots on a single fact: To gain wisdom, happiness, and nobility - which constitute a trinity of values that amount to one good as our fundamental purpose - we have to struggle for them. Life is a battle, and a tough one at that.

.Life is a journey. Here our fundamental purpose takes the form of a destination. The beauty of this destination is that we can travel to it in a multitude of ways. We may choose one of them and always use it. We may even regard it as the only way that truly suits us. In fact, our situation is open to change and we are capable of acquiring new habits that can become our chosen way, our second nature, as did our old habits. Therefore, if an irreversible change in our situation renders our habits impossible, it is an obstacle marking the end of a way that was our life until then, but it is also an opportunity to start afresh and gain wisdom, happiness, and nobility through different habits. We may die, in a sense, and live again.

Be that as it may, the more our habits are old and dear to us, the more we grieve over this end and recoil at this start. Only with a pioneer spirit - which must be awakened against our long having settled into these habits - can we discover a new, satisfying way. Only with courage and time can we learn to accept the change.

Laurent Grenier

SERMON: "Meaning and Purpose"

There are three reasons that have inspired me to write this sermon: my daughters, a Fundamentalist Christian pastor, and a friend who tried to kill himself.

Reason #1: Now in their twenties, and somewhat "on their own," my daughters are struggling to find their particular answer to "What is the meaning of life?" That is the exact question I first started asking them when they were young children, and continued to ask them as they were growing up. Initially, I provided the answer: "I don't know." Once they started responding with my suggestion, I would say: "Good answer." It was a bit of agnostic tomfoolery, if you will! But to this day, if I were to ask my kids the question, they would undoubtedly laugh and respond the same way, and I would say: "Good answer."

Reason #2: The Purpose-Driven Life is the #1 New York Times Bestseller, with over 4 million books sold since its publication in 2002. Its author, Rick Warren, serves the Saddleback (CA), Church, which he and his wife Kay began as a small group in their home in 1980. Seventeen thousand people now attend weekly services; 60,000 names are on the church roll. There are three Warren children and a dog. I presume that if this minister-father asks his children "What is the purpose of life?" they answer something like: "To be shaped by God's will" to which he responds: "Good answer." I do not know what the dog answers.

Reason #3: A very close friend recently attempted suicide - again. This time he almost succeeded. A very bright individual, he has explored various religious traditions and philosophies - in depth. He and I debate such matters on an on-going basis. He is one of the brightest people I have ever met, who repeatedly asks me about meaning and purpose in life - for himself and others - but who cannot answer the question to his own satisfaction. Although he appreciates our Unitarian Universalist idea that sometimes "The question is the answer" he is not satisfied with this. I believe the question behind his questions has become "Why live?" I hope that he can discover an answer for himself.

Indeed, I believe that questions about meaning and purpose are questions about survival and are crucial ones for each of us to ask. But in addition, they are questions basic to our understanding about what it means to be more fully human. Indeed, they call us to a state of existence beyond the tragedy of our merely passing time - until we run out of time.

This positive perspective on life connects with the Unitarian Universalist emphasis on the progressive nature of humanity - the belief that with intention and will, we can move to a higher rung on the evolutionary ladder.

I believe it is what our own church member Brock Leach suggested to a group of us recently in a meeting with our Florida UUA District Executive, the Rev. Mary Higgins when she asked us to write a mission statement for our congregation. Said Brock - with a little rephrasing from some of us that day:

We are a community where deeply caring people are nurtured, strengthened, and supported so that together we can be a significant force for good.

That is a good answer to "What is the meaning and purpose of life?" - at least in regard to this community, don't you think?

Of course, it would take much more verbiage and action to spell out what we mean in specific fashion, but it is a very sound foundation for that task - a task, I should readily add, that this congregation HAS been undertaking for over a half-century!

But what about other areas of human endeavor when it comes to attempting to address "Meaning and Purpose"?

Let us get back to the intent behind my question to my daughters. When I asked them "What is the meaning of life?" I was talking about a cosmological meaning - one applicable to all existence. Will we ever know the answer to that? Who knows! But like Albert Einstein, may we also realize:

The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.

You know, it is "the question is the answer" kind of logic, although with the hope that there really is an answer that will be made clear to us eventually.

Then again, maybe the meaning and purpose of human existence are the same for all created things, simply that we are here because we are the result of physics - that big bang and such.

I do know that when we try to "go there" - to the place where we are trying to understand meaning and purpose based upon data - actual or hypothesized - about the creation of "those things out there" (planets, suns and other stars and such), our mind gets overwhelmed. Consider these words by Bill Bryson in his A Short History of Nearly Everything:

About 4.6 billion years ago, a great swirl of gas and dust some 15 billion miles across accumulated in space where we are now and began to aggregate. Virtually all of it - 99.9 percent of the mass of the solar system went to make the Sun. Out of the floating material that was left over, two microscopic grains floated close enough together to be joined by electrostatic forces. This was the moment of conception for our planet.In just 200 million years, possibly less, the Earth was essentially formed.(p.38)

So, what does this say about meaning and purpose?

In a phrase, "Who knows?"

*****

Well, somebody knows! And his name would be Rick Warren. Lots of people believe that he is the man with the answer to the riddle of the universe! Others think that somebody else has it - other Christian Evangelists, or gurus of various stripes. Again, I am referring to the beliefs of millions today who sincerely accept as truth that there are other people who possess special insight into the grand scheme of things - who know the cosmic answer to meaning and purpose.

How envious I am of those who believe that anybody would have such awareness - envious even of Jesus and the rest of that litany of world-known religious leaders down through time. How I want to believe that The Purpose Driven Life is true - that there is a God who wants me to succeed; that all I need do his follow God's plan.

What is that plan? Warren tells us - apparently God laid it out for him rather neatly. Instead of Ten Commandments this time, there are Five Purposes. They include the following:

We were planned for God's pleasure, so your first purpose is to offer real worship.

We were formed for God's family, so your second purpose is to enjoy real fellowship.

We were created to become like Christ, so your third purpose is to learn real discipleship.

We were shaped for serving God, so your fourth purpose is to practice real ministry.

We were made for a mission, so your fifth purpose is to live out real evangelism.

Of course, in addition to having a more fulfilling life if we practice these five purposes, we also get to have a more fulfilling afterlife.

Need I say more? No, I need not! Buy the book if you want to know more.

*****

The third reason I wanted to preach this sermon has to do with my very close friend's attempts at suicide. "Why live?" is how he is expressing the question about meaning and purpose. And here I feel that we mortals can at least suggest some personal reasons.

What would you answer? Why are you living?

Let us consider some of the BIG REASONS, realizing that they sometimes interlace - and that there are many other reasons!

Certainly LOVE is a major reason for many:

Some people live because of their children. I remember my mother saying to me: "I want to live to see you graduate from college." She had her wish fulfilled, but died a sudden and unexpected death only eight months after I received my degree.

Some people find meaning and purpose in romantic love. I have officiated at marriage ceremonies of couples where the bride or groom had been declared "terminally ill" but lived just long enough to get married.

Some people will be so much in love and in tune with a partner, that when one of them dies, the other dies shortly thereafter. In one situation I was involved with, the one partner had a heart attack on the exact date that the other partner had died.

I am struck, too, by all the various kinds of love that people have for each other, but also by the love they have for animals. It is truly a wonder how animals other than the human animals can give us such meaning and purpose throughout our lives.

Then, of course, there are babies! Ah! The babies! Let me share an experience I had this past week. I was visiting someone who is gravely ill, a person with great feistiness despite his condition. He seemed to be aware of me at times, but then would drift off. At one of these less aware moments, my friend suddenly perked up - because there was the sound of a baby crying. A smile came to his face. Even when I told him that what he had heard was a baby crying on a television show, he kept smiling.

Truly, the life force - that indomitable human will to love and be loved - is a marvelous testimony to the fact that some good came out of all those gases and dust that got together and created the Earth 4.6 billion years ago!

Another kind of love that gives meaning and purpose to some is ALTRUISM, defined as helping others without expecting any kind of recognition or reward in return. In fact, sometimes, the effect on the one performing the altruistic act can be detrimental - one can be harmed physically, or even die in the process.

Religious beliefs from various traditions speak of altruism as a virtue or ethic. Remove other aspects of these varying religions - the doctrines, the dogma, the creeds, the liturgy, the various practices - and we get to the commonality of the spiritual practice: loving one's neighbor.

A person sometimes becomes altruistic because of a wake-up call - something dramatic happens. I know that my new email buddy, Laurent Grenier, the writer of today's meditation reading taken from his book A Reason for Living, was a changed person - and not just physically - when he wound up in a wheelchair, the result of a diving accident. From severe depression to a state of deep wisdom, Laurent wanted to help others understand about meaning and purpose through the writing of his book. As he said:

Everything considered, our existence pivots on a single fact: To gain wisdom, happiness, and nobility - which constitute a trinity of values that amount to one good as our fundamental purpose - we have to struggle for them. Life is a battle, and a tough one at that.

Indeed, Laurent discovered what that wonderful writer/journalist Anais Nin is talking about when she penned:

Finally the time came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.

A third major aspect that can give us meaning and purpose is PASSION. Now, this comes in various ways, and some of us have it more than others, and some of us have one big passion, while others have many smaller ones.

Those who have that one big passion personally intrigue me:

Those who know from the get-go that they must be creative in the arts: in painting, music, dance, photography, sculpture, writing, acting, etc.

Those who are passionate in unlocking the as-yet-unknown facts through the scientific method.

Those who simply must act on their ethical principles by attempting to correct the evils of society.

Those who, as scholars, use their knowledge to teach others.

Those who are steeped in finding inner peace - but not to the exclusion of ignoring the world and sharing such harmony of spirit.

I think that there is need for anyone with such passions to be alone at times to pursue them; but I think that generally there is a greater sense of meaning and purpose when these passions can be shared as gifts to others.

And I am especially NOT enthralled by those who have passions of a purely self-centered nature: the materialists of the world who do not share their wealth; the powerful who do not care about empowering others; the hedonists who care only about finding pleasure for themselves, all the while ignoring those who suffer.

From childhood, I have believed in the Parable of the Talents that Jesus taught, the intent of which tells us that we must not hide our gifts, our skills, our passions, but should share them with others.

Finally, I believe that a person gains meaning and purpose by EFFORT.

Finding meaning and purpose is a task, and not always an easy one. Sometimes it seems that the odds are against us: we think we are not smart enough, not rich enough, not healthy enough, not popular enough; life has handed us a raw deal. Why struggle? What good can come from it? Why not just be satisfied with what is there already?

Consider this bit of wisdom from Winston Churchill:

Kites rise highest against the wind - not with it.

In other words, there is so much waiting for us to be and to do but it usually takes effort!

The great psychological thinker, Abraham Maslow, coined the term "self-actualization. By this he means we should attempt to reach our highest level of psychological health and awareness by developing all our potentialities.

He is telling us that we should not limit ourselves to only a few of our talents.

This might mean that we can create meaning and purpose by refusing to live in the "either-or" way - e.g. choosing to be an artist or a social activist. Rather, Maslow is telling us that we do not have to be mono-dimensional. We can live the "both-and" model and even more than that - that we can live the "all of the above choices" model, knowing that we will never realize our full potential.

He is telling us not to be smug or self-satisfied or lazy about our lives. By using all our thoughts, feelings, and actions, we can create ever-new insights and directions.

Is life not a gift? A miracle (if we ever stop long enough to think about it)? And so may we live with intention and expend effort to gain meaning and purpose in great measure.

Let me close with this poem from a father to his daughter. Although its theme is ostensibly "soft-ball" it really is about life's meaning and purpose.

What to Tell Your Daughter
by Bas Stevens, Soft-Ball Parent

What does a father say to his daughter before her first game?

"This is your first game, daughter,
I hope you win.
I hope you win for your sake, not mine.
Because winning's nice
It's a great feeling.
Like the whole world is yours.
But it passes, this feeling.
And what lasts is what you have learned.
And what you learn about is life -
That's what sports is all about:
Life.
The whole thing is played out in an afternoon:
The happiness of life.
The miseries.
The joys.
The heartbreaks.
There is no telling what will turn up.
There is no telling whether they will toss you out
In the first five minutes or whether you'll
Stay for the long haul.
There is no telling how you'll do.
You might be a hero or you might be
Absolutely nothing.
There's just no telling!
Too much depends on chance.
On how the ball bounces.
I am not talking about the game, daughter
I am talking about life.
But it is life that the game is all about -
Just as I said,
Because every game is life.
And life is a game.
A serious one.
Dead serious.
But that is what you do with serious things:
You do your best;
You take what comes,
You take what comes and run with it.
Winning is fun.
Sure.
But winning is not the point -
Wanting to win is the point.
Not giving up is the point.
Never being satisfied with what you have done is the point.
Never letting anyone down is the point.
Play to win.
Sure.
But lose like a champion.
Because it is not winning that counts.
What counts is trying."

CLOSING WORDS: "In the midst of all the doubts." and "I can very well do without God."

In the midst of all the doubts which we have discussed for 4000 years in 4000 ways, the safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.

Voltaire

I can do very well without God both in my life and in my painting, but I cannot, suffering as I am, do without something which is greater than I, which is my life - the power to create.

Vincent van Gogh