Is This All There Is?

Abingdon Press

Chapter One

Human being are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but ... life obliges them over and over to give birth to themselves midway along the journey of life. Gabriel Garcia Marquez Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with them" (John 3:1-3a; author's translation).

In the earliest days of the church, Christians were sometimes referred to as the people of "the Way" (Acts 9:2). Their neighbors who called them this were no doubt befuddled by the strange practices of this little band of believers. Yet, one thing was clear: They were bound together by their shared conviction that they had finally found the one thing that gave their lives meaning. As followers of Jesus Christ, they had embarked upon a new way of life that offered them a definite sense of purpose.

Novelist Walker Percy once said that the most important difference in people is between those for whom life is a quest and those for whom it is not. If you are searching for that one thing in life, then this book is an invitation to begin a quest of your own and join us as we explore together the way of Jesus Christ. Ours will be a journey of exploration, a path of inquiry into Christian beliefs and practices. In the end, we hope you will discover something new about Jesus Christ and those who follow him. You may even discover something new about yourself. Some journeys we choose; others choose us. On this journey of discovery, you might find that you have already been discovered by God.

QUESTIONS

A philosopher once said that to become wise, we must learn to ask the questions we asked as a child—simple, direct questions that get right to the heart of the matter. Peggy Lee in 1969 recorded a song about such questions. In the song, when she was twelve, her father took her to the circus, which should have been a very happy occasion for a child. But, as she watched, she felt an emptiness—"Is that all there is?" she asked.

You may be reading this book because you have taken a long, hard look at your life and asked yourself the simple question, "Is this all there is?"

In the Bible, we learn about a man named Nicodemus who also struggled with this question. He was a spiritual person, but he felt that something was still missing. Late one night, Nicodemus came to see Jesus and said, "Teacher, you must tell me. Is this all there is to life? There has to be something more than what I have experienced so far." Jesus answered, in essence, "If you want a new life, you've got to begin again at the very beginning. You've got to start out on a brand new way."

Many of us are haunted by the sense that there must be something more to life, something more lasting, something more substantial than what typically occupies our attention. We long for a life that is rich with meaning and full of purpose. If this longing remains unfulfilled, we carry around the gnawing suspicion that something is missing. Of course, with all the different varieties of coffee, dozens of all-sports cable channels, and an infinitely expanding Internet, there is plenty to distract us from our uncomfortable feeling. Hopping from one experience to the next works—but only for a while. Our hunger remains for that one thing that gives life meaning and purpose. That is why many of us can relate to Nicodemus, who brought a simple, direct question to Jesus and left wondering what it would mean to begin again on a brand new way.

For a brief period near the end of his life, Albert Camus, the great philosopher—assumed to be an atheist—attended a small Methodist church in France. In conversations with his pastor, Camus had this to say about his own search: "This man Nicodemus! ... He is seeking something that he does not have. I feel right at home with Nicodemus, because I too am uncertain about this whole matter of Christianity.... The reason I have been coming to church is because I am seeking. I'm almost on a pilgrimage—seeking something to fill the void I am experiencing.... I am searching for something that the world is not giving me."

At times, the search becomes more intense. It may be when a relationship dissolves, when a child is born, or when we decide to get married. It could also be the time when we begin to see through the things that once meant so much to us. Charlie Gray, the hard-driven young banker in John Marquand's Point of No Return, relentlessly pursues his goal to become vice president of a prestigious New York bank. Yet, when Charlie reaches this goal, he experiences an unexpected moment: He realizes that this is not what he wanted after all.

No matter how much we get or what we achieve, sooner or later we want something more. We often feel like containers into which things are constantly being poured, but for some reason we never feel full. An ancient preacher in the Bible named Jeremiah said that we are like "cracked cisterns that can hold no water" (Jeremiah 2:13). It is as if there is a hole left vacant within us. Something is always leaking out, and we continually need more and more to be satisfied.

More of the same will not help, however. We need something beyond our experience. For Augustine, a Christian leader of the fourth century, the solution was clear. Our hearts will be "forever restless," he said, "until they rest in [God]." Inside each of us is a void that only God can fill. So we are dissatisfied with all substitutes. We remain unfulfilled until we find the source of our true fulfillment.

A WORLD OF STRANGERS "In our world full of strangers, estranged from ... friends and family, from their deepest self and their God, we witness a painful search for a hospitable place where life can be lived ... and community can be found." Henri Nouwen

What makes the search for meaning so difficult is that we often feel alone in the process. This is a reflection of our lives. Several writers have commented in recent years on the rapid changes in our culture. William Leach, for instance, notes what he describes as the "destruction of place in American life." He says that our lives are increasingly defined by temporary things: temporary homes, temporary jobs, temporary vehicles, temporary mates. We are gradually losing our ties to the people and places that used to help us secure meaning. We see this in a hundred little ways. Compared to past generations, we work more hours with longer commutes. We shop in sprawling super centers rather than in corner markets where neighbor mingles with neighbor. We communicate through e-mail rather than face-to-face. We eat take-out in front of the television rather than around a table with friends or family. All of these little losses of community add up to leave us feeling depleted and displaced. We experience loneliness in a variety of forms: a vague "dis-ease," a deep dissatisfaction, a...