Four roads to meaning
I know when I spend time praying, serving others, sending love into this world with an open heart and taking care of myself that life has more meaning. For me, I am constantly transforming, growing and trying to maintain balance.
I have spent time over the past few days assisting my significant other with a water leak on the ranch. This has involved his digging many deep holes in hard ground looking for exactly where the leaking pipe was and me getting wet, dirty, and muddy as I squat down bailing water. It’s a dirty, messy, muddy job, but for me it had meaning and purpose.
Recently, I have been watching Dr. Michael Brown’s weekly sermons online from Mt. Tabor Methodist Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Brown is a gifted story teller, motivational speaker, author, and adjunct professor, and for 10 years was the Senior Minister at Marble Collegiate Church in NYC, America’s oldest existing Protestant congregation. The church was served for many years by Norman Vincent Peale who wrote the international best seller, The Power of Positive Thinking.
His sermon “Four Roads to Finding Meaning” recently struck a chord with me for its crystal-clear formula to finding meaning in life.
Four roads to meaning in life:
Personal. We need to take care of ourselves so that we can take care of others. Self-care is sacred work; if we wear ourselves out taking care of others and neglecting ourselves, we are not any good to others. Dr. Brown used the analogy of the flight attendant on a plane telling you to put your mask on first. Yes, put the mask on first so that you can help the ones around you.
Relational. We have all heard that love is patient and kind. It is important to make room and time for people who need us. We reap what we sow, and we receive from people what we invest in them. Here Dr. Brown referred to Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle,” a song that can easily bring tears. Remember that there are people in your life who need your love, and nothing can fill the space that you occupy.
Societal We take care of ourselves to take care of others. All of us need to ask, what am I doing to make this world any better? What am doing to change life in a positive fashion? Dr. Brown told another great personal story from a Habitat for Humanity gentleman who has posed for hundreds of photos ops giving keys to the homeowners when he finally realized that it was he who needed to thank the new teary-eyed homeowners for giving him a life. What are you doing to make the world better?
Spiritual: Prayer, worship, exploring the Bible. Having faith in God is a personal decision, and it is something that cannot be coerced. During this portion of the sermon Brown quoted Fred Craddock: “The queen of the spiritual virtues is a grateful heart because that will determine how we see life and how we understand God.” I am firm believer that all spiritual paths start with a grateful heart and love.
Dr. Brown told a great story of a woman who had lost her husband. The woman decided not to allow her six-year-old daughter’s life to be defined by the tragic death of her father, so the woman started a blessings jar. Each night before going to bed she asked her daughter to tell her one good thing that had happened that day and put it into the jar. At the end of the month, they read the notes together. On some days the little girl could rattle off multiple blessings; on other days it was difficult to find just one blessing. We all should know that it is a grateful heart that opens the doors to creating new neurological pathways in our minds. Recognize that in the worst of times we are still blessed--we just may have to look a bit harder for it.
We all seek to find meaning and purpose in this life, and it can be a struggle. I believe Dr. Michael Brown’s four roads to finding meaning is a wonderful map to get you there. I must smile as I think how getting on my knees and moving mud and bailing water has put me on a few of these roads this week.
Feel free to share your thoughts with me: ashton@ashtoncannon.com.
Ashton Graham is an educator, book publisher, photographer, cowgirl and yoga teacher. She is currently studying to become a yoga therapist and lives on a ranch in West Texas. Visit www.ashtoncannon.com to subscribe to her weekly newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Four roads to meaning
