Jeanell A.

Dela Tina October 05, 2016

BSN - 2A
Philo 106 W (12:25 to 3:25) T401

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

A sense of purpose and fulfillment is the single strongest issue flowing out of the quest
for meaning. The end of the quest for meaning is the beginning of the journey of faith. Indeed,
nothing better illuminates the entire journey of life and faith, and in particular the special
challenge of finishing well, than the issue of purpose.

Our passion is to know we’re fulfilling the purpose for which we’re here on earth. We all
desire to make a difference. Our notions of how to do this differ enormously. All other standards
of success - wealth, power, position, knowledge, friendships. Finding and fulfilling the purpose
of our lives comes up in a myriad ways and in all the seasons of our lives. Negotiating these
changes feels longer and worse than the changes themselves because transition challenges
our sense of personal meaning. Personal Purpose isn't a matter of philosophy or theory or
objective or a legacy. It is vanity.

In our own day, this question of life purpose is more urgent than ever. Three factors have
converged to fuel a search for significance without precedent in human history. First, the search
for the purpose of life is one of the deepest issues of our experiences as human beings. Second,
the expectation that we can all live has been given a boost my society. Third, our fulfillment is
thwarted by a stunning fact, The trouble is that, we have too much to live with and too little to
live for.

The confusion is compounded by conflicting views of life as a journey. There are

seemingly no risks, trials, dangers, setbacks, or disasters in the horizon. The journey itself is
all. Questions, inquiry, searching, and conquering become ends in themselves. Ambiguity is
everything. For thinkers in the modern consumer world, desire is allowed to desire only desire.
To keep the system going, desire is stimulated to desire anything and everything except
satisfaction. Life in this view is never a crossroad but a cafeteria of endless choices.
 The way to make the most of the journey of life and faith is to answer the call of our
Creator, and in so doing discover the purpose for which we are created and to which we are
called. He alone knows our reason for being, by which he calls us into a life of purpose.
Answering the call of the creator is therefore the highest source of purpose on the journey. As
we live life by faith, this is the heart of our calling as human beings. God calls us to himself so
decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with
special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service. To be
sure, there is much in life we did not choose and cannot change.

A sense of calling can be a central motive in a mission. But if the single motive is the
master motive God’s calling, God’s call is unchanging and ultimately what, why and whether.
Calling is the most comprehensive reorientation and most profound motivation on human
journey. Answering the call is the way to find and fulfill the central purpose of life as we journey
home.