Quest of the Spirit: From Suffering to Acceptance

5.2 Fighting for Purpose! Bergman, Frankl, Newman, Buber, Schweitzer, White

  1.         "According to logotherapy, this striving to find a meaning in one's life is the primary motivational force in man. That is why I will speak of a will to meaning in contrast to the pleasure principle (or, as we could also terms, the will to pleasure) on which Freudian psychoanalysis is centered, as well as in contrast to the will to power on which Adlerian psychology, using the term 'striving for superiority,' is focused. "---Viktor Frankl

 2.        In his book Man's Search for Meaning (1985), Viktor Frankl, psychiatrist and Nazi concentration camp survivor, suggests that man's quest for meaning constitutes motivation in his life and not a 'secondary rationalization' of instinctual drives" (Frankl 121). As Buber suggests in I AND THOU, Frankl also maintains that human initiative and the will to purpose transcend the urges and impulses associated with determinism. Ethical principles play an essential role in the self-discovery process, although some authors, he observes, relegate them to mere "defense mechanisms, reaction formations and sublimations." Frankl stresses that he himself would be unwilling to live for the sake of defense mechanisms or reaction formations, but man can "live and die for the sake of his ideals and values!" (121). Here Frankl differs from traditional psychoanalysis by suggesting that man's existential frustration is "in itself neither pathological nor pathogenic." In other words, man's despair over the apparent futility of his life is what he terms an existential distress that must in no way be diagnosed as a mental disease. Although the analyst would be tempted to "bury his patient's existential despair under a heap of tranquilizing drugs," the psychiatrist must avoid this alternative and commence the task of steering the subject "through his existential crisis of growth and development" (125). Man must respond to the questions of life only as they pertain to his own unique circumstances; a meaningful life demands responsibility, a characteristic that logotherapy recognizes as the crucial component of human existence.

         3.  In essence, man should not worry about discovering some abstract meaning of life but rather should seek to find purpose in his daily existence. Frankl says, "Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment" (131). This concept echoes what Christ affirms, when He admonishes believers to deny self daily, take up their cross, and follow Him. In the same respect, Albert Schweitzer encourages men to find meaning in their challenges of their everyday lives. In this way, a person does not have to perform his service to mankind abroad or in a foreign land. Finding purpose can consist of the smallest deeds of kindness, humor, or encouragement to those suffering from loss or neglect. These simple acts of love, courage, or sacrifice equally fulfill man's purpose. Fulfillment derives from service in the external world, not from personal gratification. Self-transcendence, as the author calls it, begins with responsibility and leads to the actualization of one's potential. "The more one forgets himself—by giving himself to a cause to serve or to another person to love—the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself," Viktor contends. Ethics thus plays a much greater role in man's social and emotional development. Frankl even suggests that humor, for instance, plays a vital part, and he encourages subjects, in times of unavoidable suffering, to search for something humorous every day because laughter lifts the spirit and strengthens the soul (147-148). In A Theology for the Social Gospel (1918), Walter Rauschenbusch  coins the term social gospel which he describes as an application of Christian charity and compassion in resolving the social issues facing society . According to Rauschenbush, sermons that traditionally addresses the particular doctrines of a  certain or belief hold little or no relevance to the problems of hunger, poverty, isolation, loss, and despair that concern the modern world . In Rauschenbusch's words, "The social gospel is that [ethical Christianizing force of human] nature. It plainly concentrates  religious interest on the great ethical problems of social life. It scorns tithing of mint, anise, and cummin, at which the Pharisees are still busy, and insists on getting down to the weightier matters of God's law, to justice and mercy .It ties up religion not only with duty, but with big duty that stirs the soul with religious feeling and throws it back on God for help . . . The more the social gospel engages and inspires theological thought, the more will religion be concentrated on ethical righteousness. The social gospel is bound to be a reformatory and Christianizing force inside of theology" (Rauschenbusch 15). Assuming responsibility for one's ethical behavior compels the individual to focus on positive relationships with others rather than merely gratifying his own personal drives or reconciling conflicts between the Id, Ego, and Superego. In this manner, the subject takes charge of his life by becoming a contributing influence in his own growth, not a pawn of cultural or hereditary factors. As Frankl says, "Inasmuch as logotherapy makes him aware of the hidden logos of his existence, it is an analytical process. To this extent, logotherapy resembles psychoanalysis; however, in logotherapy's attempt to make something conscious again it does not restrict its activity to instinctual facts within the individual's unconscious but also cares for existential realities, such as the potential meaning of his existence to be fulfilled as well as his will to meaning" (Frankl 125-126). For Ingmar Bergman, film making answered the social needs of humanity. In Bergman's words, "For me, in those days, the great question was: Does God exist? Or doesn't God Exist? Can we, by an atitudes of faith, attain to a sense of community and a better world? Or, if God doesn't exist, what do we do then? Whatr does our world look like then? In none of this was there the least political colour." In another context, Bergman says, "No form of art goes beyond ordinary consciousness as film does, straight to our emotions, deep into the twilight room of the soul." For psychologist  Ivan Pavlov, passion and dedication filled the existential void. "Science, Pavlov suggested,"demands from a man all his life. If you had two lives, that would not be enough for you. Be passionate in your work and in your searching."