Questioned by life

From Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning:

It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life — daily and hourly. Our answer must consist, not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual.

Reminds me of JFK’s statement, “Ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” It seems the attitude of “I deserve this and that and oh don’t forget all this too” has permeated our culture. Where has duty fled? The stench of selfishness has settled, and it will destroy our country.

As for me, I don’t consider myself “entitled” to anything, really, except the basic freedoms espoused in the Declaration and Constitution. The government doesn’t owe me money or whatever it is people are begging for these days. Whatever I get, I’ll have earned it by my own hard work. And if the time ever comes that they draft young men and my name gets chosen, I’ll go, so help me. (As for whether I’d volunteer, I wouldn’t be averse to it, but that doesn’t seem to be the Lord’s plan for me so far.)

In the Screwtape Letters, Screwtape talks about the subtle variations of ownership. My boots, my car, my family, my country, my God, my time, etc… Somethings truly are not our own, and we have been deceived into thinking that many things that do not belong to us (we have stewardship over them, yes, but it is not ours) do.

This selfish part of pride is a major obstacle for people to overcome when they seek truth. Truth seeking becomes an optimization of cost: “How much truth can I get for the least amount of life changing?” as opposed to “What brings me closer to God?”