The Meaning of Life
by Presbyterian Minister, Robert McAFee Brown

Ralph Sumner died the other day, full of years (80 plus) and wisdom (dairy farmer, cabinetmaker, churchgoer, member of the local road crew, dowser). When we laid him in the ground there were some tears, but there was also a lot of gratitude for the joy he had spread around the folk of Heath MA 01346. Ralph's death made me think about my life.

I believe we are placed here to be companions—a wonderful word that comes from cum panis ("with bread"). We are here to share bread with one another so that everyone has enough, no one has too much and our social order achieves this goal with maximal freedom and minimal coercion. There are many names for such sharing: utopia, the beloved community, the Kingdom of God, the communion of saints. And while the goal is too vast to be realized solely on this planet, it is still our task to create foretastes of it on this planet—living glimpses of what life is meant to be, which include art and music and poetry and shared laughter and picnics and politics and moral outrage and special privileges for children only and wonder and humor and endless love, to counterbalance the otherwise immobilizing realities of tyrants, starving children, death camps and just plain greed.

---

Next: The meaning of life according to Senator John F. Kennedy.
 
 

NEWSWORLD SHOWDOWN Copyright © 2022