{"id":2299,"date":"2014-10-24T16:27:56","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T23:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theeduca.mywhc.ca\/?p=2299"},"modified":"2014-10-24T16:27:56","modified_gmt":"2014-10-24T23:27:56","slug":"meaning-existence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ashlarcollege.ca\/ashlar-archived\/meaning-existence\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the Meaning of your Existence?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What Is The Meaning Of YOUR Existence?<\/strong><\/span>
\nshared by Ed Halpaus April 2008<\/p>\n

\u201cLive as if you are living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now.\u201d<\/span> \u2013Viktor Frankl<\/p>\n

Viktor Frankl, who was a psychoanalyst and a great thinker, was born in Germany.
\nHis wisdom came from experience during WWII when he was interred in a concentration camp and was suffering as he was treated worse than an animal and physically and mentally abused.<\/p>\n

In his book “Man\u2019s Search For Meaning”<\/span>, he described what he believed is a process each of us can use to determine the meaning of our existence.<\/p>\n

The meaning of life differs for each one of us and can vary from time to time.<\/p>\n

He wrote that our responsibilities are the essence of our human existence.
\nFrankl believed we can discover the meaning of our life in three different ways:<\/p>\n

\u201cby creating a work or doing a deed;<\/span>
\n by experiencing something or encountering someone;<\/span>
\n and by the attitude we take toward suffering.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Our Masonic obligations include each of those ways and can help you discover the meaning of your life:<\/p>\n

being responsible,\u00a0 being industrious,\u00a0\u00a0 doing good deeds, \u00a0\u00a0 treating each other with brotherly love,\u00a0\u00a0 and confronting a brother\u2019s and\/or your own suffering.<\/p>\n

Brotherly love helps us to become more fully aware of our own existence as well as the essence of another brother.<\/p>\n

Love enables us to see the features and essential traits of another brother and his potential which he has not yet achieved.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Our brotherly love may even help him to achieve that potential.<\/p>\n

Frankl believed we can find meaning to life, even when confronted with a hopeless situation.
\nWhen it seems the situation cannot be changed, sometimes we are able to turn our predicament into a human achievement.<\/p>\n

When we can no longer change a situation, such as when we are confronted with an incurable illness, we are challenged to change ourselves. Instead of rebelling or giving up we can find new meaning in life!!!<\/p>\n

We can rise above our suffering and grow.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example Stephen Hawking was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis at age 21.
\nDespite his debilitating illness, he continued to do ground-breaking work in physics and cosmology, and published several books which have helped to make science accessible to everyone.<\/p>\n

Words to Live By:
\n\u201cWhen the clouds are full of water, it rains.<\/span>
\n When the wind blows down a tree, it lies where it falls.<\/span>
\n Don’t sit there watching the wind.<\/span>\u00a0 Do your own work.<\/span>
\n Don’t stare at the clouds.<\/span> Get on with your life.” -Ecclesiastes 11:3-4,<\/span><\/p>\n

Comment<\/span>
\nIn so many moments of our lives, things and events seem so difficult, so complicated & so impossible yet, if we can just stop, understand the message being presented, it is quite probable that we will find that it offers not just an option but a totally open door.<\/p>\n

All we really need to do is be quiet and listen.<\/p>\n

Some may call that Meditation == I DO.<\/p>\n

Have a wonderful day & God Bless
\nNorm<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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