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At last year’s Academy Awards, Anthony Hopkins took home the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Father. Not bad for an 83-year-old! While promoting the movie, he was interviewed by GQ and talked at length about his philosophy of life and happiness. He said this:
“The sadness of life is that we go on—we're born in this world, and at the end we leave, and you think, ‘What was that all about?.' My life... at the end of it all, I don't know what is… what's it all about? Is there meaning in it? So what makes me really happy is—what makes me free I think is the best word to use—is the feeling that nothing is of that much importance.”
He’s essentially come to the conclusion that life is meaningless and insignificant, so he recommends just enjoying it. As you hear him talk about the freedom and happiness he enjoys, you start to wonder whether it matters if life has any meaning or not.
As I think back, the times when I’ve asked myself, “What am I doing this for?” or “What’s it all about?” have been when I’ve felt frustration, obstacles, and difficulties. When it’s hard, we need to know whether the sacrifice was worth it. If nothing matters, why bother? If there’s no meaning to life, what’s the point of going on?
While I’m glad that Anthony Hopkins experiences the happiness he does in his “it’s all meaningless” philosophy, I suspect that the fact that he’s enjoyed a lifetime of deeply satisfying and richly rewarded work has greatly contributed to it. When you’re still at the top of your career in your 80s and have more money than you could ever spend, you don’t feel the same need to find meaning in life. But what about when your career is a disaster, your relationships are a shambles, and you can’t make ends meet? What about when your health fails? What about when you don’t find satisfaction in what you do? If life is meaningless and nothing matters, what helps you go on? And even if you achieve the kind of satisfaction that Hopkins has, what if, in assuming that nothing matters, you miss the whole point of life?
The Bible centres life’s meaning in relationship with a God who loves us. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He came to restore a quality and fullness of life that had been lost. He came to bring life to people who felt like life was hollow and empty. In John 17:3, He said, “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Eternal life sounds like something that starts later after we’re dead. That’s not how Jesus used the phrase. He was talking about that rich, full kind of life that He came to bring. It can start now, but it lasts into eternity. It’s a quality of life that not even death can bring an end to. But what does He mean by equating this eternal life with knowing God? He’s not talking about the kind of knowledge that you need to pass tests and answer hard questions. It’s more like when you meet someone with whom you feel an instant connection and you think, I want to get to know them! It’s the knowledge of a parent and their child. It's the knowledge of a husband and wife. It’s the knowledge of two life-long friends. It’s describing the journey of relationship. The meaning of life is found in a personal relationship with God. It’s that relationship that matters, and it can give meaning and significance to all the other aspects of life as well.
You may be a little like Anthony Hopkins. You’ve seen so many dreams come true that it hasn’t bothered you that you’ve never found meaning in life. Maybe you’re just convinced that when your dreams do come true it’ll all make sense. Or maybe you’re struggling to find a reason to go on or find something that matters. Wherever you are, the answer is found in a relationship. And Jesus invites you to it.
If this is new to you and you think it’s something you’d like to explore, I’ve written a free, 12-week course called The Unstuck Life that walks you through the essentials of Jesus’ teachings in daily, bite-sized messages that you can read or watch by video. To learn more, go to www.gracebc.ca/getunstuck.
In awe of Him,
Paul
