The same weary malaise is reflected in many online posts and yet the posters seem on the whole to be quite affluent. By the standards of every generation before them, stretching back thousands of years, they are rich beyond compare. They are spoilt for choice and quantity when it comes to food, shelter, clothes, entertainment, opportunity and good health and yet there is this discontent. How can it be?
When I was a young Christian, it was easy enough to spot the problem. There might be endless amounts of material stuff for everyone now but that was not enough without a spiritual dimension. I remember being involved in some street-theatre productions in which this was our central theme. The alienation of modern man, a theme I had borrowed from Sartre and the Absurdists, was also prominent in these short pieces. I am sure that many thought us pretentious.
As I grew older this truth remained a constant for me, never mind the cooling of my faith. Making meaning was a fundamental aspect of the human condition without which life would drift. Many people find meaning in religion, others in philosophy, some in their careers, or education or in their relationships with others. All are valid though some are more enduring than others.
But there are many pathways that will lead to a disillusioned soul. Once the lure of money and it's byproducts have worn off, then there remains the question of the purpose of life. Is it just to consume? To lead a unthinking, shallow existence? To join the me-first gang forever?
Of course, I exaggerate. It is possible to steer a middle course and balance the material and the spiritual. It is also worthwhile struggling with these questions throughout the different stages of life. Struggle sometimes leads to wisdom. And it often leads to a place of deep reflection which of itself, is calming and uplifting and even joyful.
I wish that kind of place on everyone.
Or does it?
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