The Unexamined Life Syndrome

In her Gifford Lectures, entitled The Life of the Mind, Hannah Arendt states that her interest in "mental activities" had many sources, but was most immediately influenced by the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. In observing Eichmann respond to questions, she wrote that he showed no evidence of being able to "stop and think," but rather spoke in "cliché-ridden language."

To "stop and think" and to examine our actions in a reflective way, is becoming less and less a part of our lives. "Cliché-ridden language" abounds. Although we may not experience the demonic ways of Eichmann, we know something about the thoughtlessness of his existence. Most of the generation that more fully embraced the value of reflective examination is passing. The sight, sound, and action generation is becoming dominant. Thoughtlessness abounds everywhere in today's world, the by-product being minds without rudders, floating in a sea of confusion. And for many the Christian faith has been unable to provide the necessary certainty to clarify the confusion.

To be human is to need to perceive ultimate certainty and meaning in life. The human being is a very tough creature who can withstand a great deal. Humans cannot live, however, with the sense that their lives have no meaning—that there is no ultimate certainty and no reason for their existence on this earth.

In Luke's Gospel, a Pharisee asks Jesus, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus asks him what is written in the law. The answer: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Jesus replies: "Do this and live."

To love God with the mind leads to the examination of one's life. Examination leads to questions. Questions lead, in the end, to spiritual growth. The need for such examination can come at many entry points in our lives—the result of human failure or tragedy, transition or triumph, or just a deepening hunger to know and be known by the Living God. Whatever the impetus to life examination, the consequence can only be spiritual growth.

"Life can only be understood backwards" wrote Soren Kierkegaard. But Kierkegaard also said that life "life has to be lived forwards." One of the secrets of faith is to appreciate the transforming moment and the lessons of life it teaches, and then learn to know when to keep moving forward. To believe in a God of continuing revelation is to recognize that possibilities for new moments of transformation are always before us. These are what give the journey of life meaning, and to live in the expectant rhythms of such moments is to learn the secret of living, in the fullest spiritual sense of that word.

Soren Kierkegaard also wrote of the "leap of faith" that one must take after letting theological inquiry and examination take us as far as they can. What concerns me is that so many of us are willing to take this "leap of faith" long before we have adequately struggled with our "teachable moments," which lead to the "Why am I here?" question. In this way, it becomes a "cheap leap of faith!" One of the reasons why so many shy away from the struggle is that they believe it is too difficult. Of course, life examination, study, thinking, and the pursuit of the question, "Why am I here?" are difficult. The fruit of such inquiry, however, is what makes life meaningful.

Life examination can be difficult. We need to learn, however, to appreciate and love the difficult in our life examination and transformational moments because of the growth that will surely result.