The Meaning of Life Part 5b
Does Status Give You Meaning in Your Life?
• A lot of folks will instantly agree that having power is not the meaning of life, that is, finding yourself in a position of power or status will not ultimately make your life more meaningful.
But in reality, what is said outwardly may not be a reality inwardly. Think of the time someone told you to do something, anything that you felt was a command or you had no choice in the matter - “Get this pencil!”, “Type this report!”, “Grab this!”, “Take your shoes off and make sure there is nothing in your pockets” (those who travel will recognize the TSA barking commands syndrome).
Tell me which of you don’t feel a slight twinge on the inside, even when you are forced to comply, “Who is this person telling me what to do”, “Look at her, she feel she is better than everyone else”, or “Don’t they know I work for more money that you”. This is your internal register going bonkers when you feel that you have little choice in the matter, no input in the request, feeling that you are not in control or when you feeling that someone is unduly exercising control over you.
However you would gladly get the pencil, type the report, grab that, take your shoes off, if you felt it was your choice. The same task would not be a problem if you perceived yourself as in control. You would gladly run in the rain, get that cup of coffee for that special someone, because you made the choice to, but let someone tell you to do it and it is a different story. It registers differently internally.
• More than we care to admit, we attached meaning to our lives based on our ability to make choices and sometimes over whom we can make our choices affect. It reinforces our perception of control. Some have graduated beyond this where their own identity is defined and continuously fed by being able to make other people fulfill their own choices, whether legitimately or illegitimately. Solomon observed rightfully that we should obey the king, since his word is supreme -
[Eccl 8:2-5] “2 Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. 3 Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. 4 Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?" 5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.”
Yet we do know that these kings, figures of authority more than likely can take it too far, and get a big head when they realize that they do wield this power of influence over people. They tend to forget who put them in that position. As Solomon says, you don’t even have the power over your own future or over the wind, so behave yourself, else you are gathering evidence to your own hurt.
[Eccl 8:7-10] “7 Since no man knows the future, who can tell him what is to come? 8 No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no one has power over the day of his death. As no one is discharged in time of war, so wickedness will not release those who practice it. 9 All this I saw, as I applied my mind to everything done under the sun. There is a time when a man lords it over others to his own hurt.”
• How many of you also know of a manager, boss, teacher, coach principal, vice president who so relishes their title and position of power that their whole life revolves it, so much so, that when it is removed they are a shell of a person, they are crushed. I was recently reading about the late Joe Paterno and how he was (rightfully so) crushed when he was fired. One statement struck me, as we were told that he cried continually upon being fired and finally remarked ““My name…..I have spent my whole life trying to make that name mean something. And now it’s gone.” This was a man who defined his life as a coach, and not just any coach, but the powerful coach/ patriarch of Penn State. When it was taken away, all of his life, his identity, his name was taken away also. He now was a shell of his normal self.
To many people, more than we care to acknowledge, having power, or some status – defined as a sense of control to make your own choices, and hopefully be in a position to have other people fulfill your choices while you yourself are not ultimately influenced by other people choices – fuels your sense of identity and adds meaning to your life. But when stripped away, you are reduced to nothing.
• I experience this all the time in my job as a sales consultant. I can tell you of the numerous any CIOs, CEOs, vice presidents, managers etc I have met whose job, position title is their life. Here is a recent poignant example, where my mistake triggered this and brought it to the forefront. I call it BananaGate.
I recently visited a high profile shoe company, where I made a sales presentation. I had to leave early and the sales rep wanted a ride to the airport. However I had forgotten that I was in a hurry that morning so I grabbed a banana for breakfast. When I arrived on site I look earnestly for a garbage can, but upon not finding any, I left it on the floor of the car, on the passenger side. As the sales rep was about to enter the vehicle, I told her let me get rid of this banana skin. I look for some bushes where I can put it, seeing that it was bio degradable.
No sooner had I thrown it there, that I heard someone shouted from the front of the building, “Hey, Why did you do that?”. This person I observed was previously speaking to in an animated manner to another person. I began to explain that I did not find a trash can and seeing that I was transporting someone I wanted to disposed of it quickly. In addition banana peels were bio degradable so disposing it in the bushes where no one travelled should be of no consequence.. That was not to his liking.
He immediate grunted and snarled “Who are you? Who are you? You know what you are? You are a pig. Pick it up. Who are you? What is your name?”. I immediately retorted? “You asked who am I and then called me a pig? Here is what we will do, I acknowledge that disposing of the banana peel may not be the smartest thing. I will get it, but you would have to apologize immediately for calling me a pig”.
With his next answer he immediately exposed his true nature for while he thought he was defining me, he was prophetically revealing himself to all - “Don’t you know who I am? Don’t you know who I am? My name is Joe Mxxxx. I am the Vice President of Fxxxxx. I am the Vice President and I can let you in this building or let you out. Furthermore you are not allowed to enter this building any more. I am the Vice President and I say who comes and who goes”
At this time the sales rep already climbed into the bush and got the banana peel (poor lady), so you know the issue wasn’t really that. I noticed that the person to whom he was speaking too hung his head. I recognized by his reaction that Joe Mxxx was in a habit of belittling his fellow employees. He was embarrassed for his boss.
I replied “Thank you for letting me know that you are the Vice President. Let me introduce you to someone who out ranks you. His name is Christ, He is King. He gave you your position and title and He can take it away. You thought that you can define my nature with your shouting but in fact it was you who have just instead revealed your true nature to everyone. Your identity is so dependent on being a Vice President. Know this for sure, that I will be back. This conversation ends because its purpose has been accomplished, for with your own mouth you have revealed who you really are, a very shallow person who hides behind his title. You are nothing without your title”.With that I got into my car and left. My previously speechless sales rep was stunned. After a few minutes she remarked that I had handled that very well and she would not have known what to say. She was glad that I appealed to Christ and she liked that. Of course I was still involved at the account and my manager and his boss was not really concerned, when Mr. VP tried to make some more noise, because they know who I am. They point is there are many who need to be liberated from this type of thinking and most times only a collapse and a stripping of their esteemed title, with all the meaning associated with it will set them on that path. Unfortunately a little of this is in all of us if we are not careful.
• This is why Solomon stated
[Eccl 10:16-20] “6 Woe to you, O land [corporation] whose king [vice president] is but a child, and whose princes feast in the morning. 17 Blessed are you, O land whose king is of noble birth and whose princes eat at a proper time- for strength and not for drunkenness. “
This is why Christ admonished that to be the greatest in the Kingdom, you should not look for every opportunity to lord it over others as the Gentiles do, but instead the one who rules should identify with the one who is the youngest and the ones who serves [Luke 22:24-30].
The key is if you are a leader you can lead from in front with a title and be just as effective if you exert leadership from behind with no title, like a servant. It really does not make a difference to you at all.
• Furthermore Solomon states
[Eccl 4:13-16] “13 Better a poor but wise youth than an old but foolish king who no longer knows how to take warning. 14 The youth may have come from prison to the kingship, or he may have been born in poverty within his kingdom. 15 I saw that all who lived and walked under the sun followed the youth, the king's successor. 16 There was no end to all the people who were before them. But those who came later were not pleased with the successor. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
We all know those leaders who like to hold onto power for a long time. Most of the world’s problems can be attributed to old men in power, whether it is in the IOC, FIFA, corporations or heads of states, or even churches who succumb to this identity crisis. Remove it from them and they die. It is better for a poor but wise youth to lead, for his leadership is informed from his humble beginnings, but in the end it is still meaningless because nothing lasts forever. Barak Obama was 47 when he became president and was sworn in on a wave of change. Do you remember the euphoria all over the world at his inauguration? While significant, at the same time it is meaningless. With Christ, this is a different story, for He our High Priest and King who has the power of a life with no end. He has no succession problems.
• As we have seen, power exercised at any level should not be used as an avenue to give yourself an identity or meaning in your life, especially at the expense of others. The meaning of life is also not dependant on your life status whether we find ourselves as white, back, male, female, doctors, lawyers, slaves, worker bees, employees, or whether we find ourselves in a position of power and authority. We cannot attach meaning to our lives based on our ability (or perception) that we can control our own destiny, or on the ability to make our own choices or even conclude that our life is meaningless because we find ourselves at the end of a constant barrage of commands. One thing is true though – Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.
• If filling your pocket or having some status in life is not the meaning the life, then perhaps to serve others and your fellow man is. We will address this next time.
To be continued..
Meaning of Life Part 6
Comments
Post a Comment