Meaning

I've been reading Traveling Mercies, by Anne Lamott, a must read for anyone that knows how to read (and if you know someone who doesn't know how to read, buy the book and read it to them). I wanted to share a quick quote from her book. It deals with the meaning of an individual's life.

A human life is like a single letter of the alphabet. It can be meaningless. Or it can be part of a greater meaning.

I like the thought that our human existence, as paltry, ordinary, and filled with angst and uncertainty as it can seem (or sometimes actually be), runs over with possibilities for deeper meaning and worth. That, by the grace and strength of Christ, we can rise above what the world passes off as life: an illusionary pursuit after illusionary pleasures that flutter away after they have passed themselves off as ultimate reality, but that turn out to be nothing more than dime-store promises and an imitation Rolex.

Like an individual member of the alphabet, our truest meaning, that which points to a greater Meaning and Ultimate Reality, only comes as part of a greater whole. What is a word but a collection, a community, if you will, of letters that are joined to paint a picture of something real?

And what is the church, but a collection, a community, if you will, of people that are joined to paint a picture of something real?

shalom, matt