Philosophical Thoughts

Philosophical Thoughts

I. What is sorrow?

II. Why do we suffer?

III. Value of purpose?

IV. Gratefulness?

V. Love 

I. What is sorrow?

My grandmother, Patricia Brogdon, was readmitted to the hospital tonight. Her heart cannot keep a steady beat. It beats irregularly. “Her heart is sick,” we tell her grandchildren. She was readmitted tonight after being released just a week or two ago. That time, the doctors proceeded to remedy this cardiac abnormality by causing her to go unconscious; causing her heart to stop, and then jolting her heart, and her, back to life.

         
As I recall this event in my mind I feel sadness. As I meticulously choose the words to express this event, in an attempt to share this emotion that I am seemingly ensconced within, I hope you as the reader, are able to empathize with it. So that we can explore this question together; what is sorrow? why is there suffering?

What is sorrow? It’s a feeling. It’s an emotion. It’s something that I know I can feel inside, but have trouble communicating such a feeling with inadequate adjectives or awkward metaphors. I successfully did so (I hope) in the opening paragraph because I exemplified a “world” that is sorrowful. This borrows from Robert Solomon’s concept of the loveworld. Solomon writes, “Once we see that every emotion defines a world for itself, we can then describe in some detail what that world involves…”

I’ll call the world I used to describe sorrow, sorroworld. The whole idea behind this worldly concept (no pun intended) is that people mutually enter into and create these worlds, which inevitably take on their own self-perpetuating path and identity. My future wife and I, for instance, will be definitely “in love” upon the day of our marriage where we will publicly enter into union together. We will, as two individuals, give ourselves to this loveworld. It will become as much a part of us, as we are a part of it. Our love grows and perpetuates onward because my wife and I are literally what it is made of, and we are living and growing as one. So what does this have to do with sorroworld and suffeing? When something disrupts one of these worlds that we find ourselves a part of, it causes us pain because that world is part of our personal identity, what makes us who we are. It hurts us too.

Now, what is it that hurt me? The thought that my grandmother was in the hospital caused me sorrow, pain and grief. "The mental perception of some fact excites the mental affection called the emotion, and that this latter state of mind gives rise to the bodily expression." Right? William James, who is said to be the greatest American philosopher, would pronounce this way of thinking to be a popular fallacy. His argument is with this popular approach is it's technical definition of our response to a particular event. For example: When a little girl see's a cockroach, she screams and runs, and is thus scared. Being scared should, he argues, be  characterized and identified by the scream and the run. His thesis is, 

The bodily changes [girl screaming] follow directly the perception of the exciting fact [icky bug] and that our feeling [fear] of the same changes as they occur is the emotion. -James

Basically, the perception that we happen to harbor towards a particular observable fact is what determines our reaction, and our reaction is what the emotion is. 

SO

Ultimately, we have a choice. We’re not animals. We’re not enslaved to behave in one particular way to one particular event. As humans, we have volition. We have to power to use our will to determine what will scare us and what will not. What will cause us pain/sorrow and what will not. This, I feel, is a very liberating thought. A sentiment that I think Viktor Frankl would echo. However, merely knowing that we have power to be affected or to not be affected by any part of our current environment doesn't take away from the fact that suffering still occurred. Grandma's heart, weather I choose to let it cause me grief or not, is still causing her medical issues. Why? Why is this suffering even necessary? We can revisit William James to analyze his life and his philosophical insights to help us find an answer.

II. Why do we suffer?

William James was born in 1843 in New York City. He came from an affluent family who placed an extremely high value on education. Williams father was deeply interested in philosophical and theological theories. We can assume then, that he was, in a way, predestined to have a certain proclivity to explore philosophical ideas. But this was not always the case. He didn't come out of the womb ready to be an automatic continuation of his father's life. In regards to philosophy, that is. As the son of his father he was a continuation of his father in that way, I guess. To his fathers discontent, William wanted to be a painter. So he went off to study painting for a year until he got tired of it and went to study chemistry. Bottom line here is, William James was a smart cookie. Now, about his philosophical insights.

James suffered from depression and pessimism. I mention this because when trying to understand a certain concept, it's valuable to understand how a certain person arrived at the conclusion they did. For James he begged the question: Are the morbid minded weak? Are people who are always angry at the world weaklings because they cant handle the cards that they've been dealt? When exploring this theory he took into consideration the life of Johanne Goethe, who said this of his own life,

I will say nothing against the course of my existence. But at bottom, it has been nothing but pain and burden, and I confirm that during the whole of my 75 years, I have not had four weeks of genuine well-being. It is but the perpetual rolling of a rock that must be raised up again forever. - Goethe

Kinda sad right? James thought so too. And he answered this by postulating that the best way to go about life is to be optimistic. Again, something that Viktor Frankl would agree with. This goes back to Volition and the ability to choose how things affect us. But there is still suffering. And James was keenly aware of this. He finally offered this gem of insight: He saw a connection to the depths of one's dispair and the level of appreciation that comes afterwards, after they escaped this permanent state of pessimism were they able to appreciate life all the more because they were so deep in the dumps at one point. They are, in a way reborn. Metaphorical Christian bells are ringing in my head.

Dark is the absence of light. Cold is the absence of heat. We can recognize light because there are dark places in the world. We can recognize peace, because there is suffering. We can recognize love because there is indifference. Without this duality life would be very bland.

So why is there suffering? Because it is necessary to realize the opposite; Good. Good is not good unless we’ve seen bad. Like the gasp of air after fear of drowning. Like caf. pizza after 2 days of fasting. You don't know what you've got 'till it's gone. If there was anyone who knew the meaning of these truths and could offer us an additional & powerful perspective to grant us more insight, it would be none other than Dr. Viktor Frankl.

III. Value of purpose?

Dr. Viktor Frankl is a Psychologist who has given us Logotherapy which deals with helping people find meaning in life. Frankl's book Man's Search For Meaning tells the story of all the atrocities that he and the millions of others went through in the Nazi concentration camps. His survival of unspeakable evils is a testament to the power of knowing what one's purpose is. Not asking how one should live, but why? For Frankl it was love.

 Think back to James and the correlation between how deeply someone suffers & the ammount of appreciation after being liberated. All the death Frankl witnessed. The utter starvation; to the point where people were unrecognizable, breathing collections of bones. Being put to work out in the 4-degree-winter-woods, shoveling with loose shoes that would fill with snow. Loose because the only way they would fit his swollen feet were to be completely untied. It was in these conditions that Frankl begins to think, not of how sorry he is for himself, not how he wishes he could end it all, but of his wife (who was taken to a different camp), and how much he misses her. How much he loves her. That fact alone blows my mind. How in control of his will he is. Volition. Yet at the same time he is so delusional from exhaustion that he began speaking to his wife in his head and having full fleged conversations with her. He recalls her answering back. Frankl recalls these conversations with his wife were the only thing that kept him alive on some days. Simply knowing that she could be alive and deeply hoping that he could one day be with her again was all he needed to breath on more time. Breath. One more time. Breath. For my wife. Live. for our love. Frankl writes in his book: 

I did not know weather my wife was alive, I had no means of finding out... but at that moment it ceased to matter. There was no need for me to know; nothing could touch the strength of my love, my thoughts, and the image of my beloved...Set me like a seal upon thy heart, love is as strong as death. -Frankl

Side note: These are some of the most powerful & aesthetic words I've ever read. Upon reading them I'm overcome with emotion; immediately infused with joy that such depth of love exists and that such a love can overcome anything, even death! The concept, the story behind it, the whole thing It's nothing less than beautiful!

Okay. Moving on!

Here is an additional quote from a Television interview of Frankl: 

Even in the face of an incurable disease…even then there is the highest meaning of potential…Then we are called upon to bear witness to the unique human potential which is to transmute, to turn, a predicament into an achievement, a human accomplishment. Or to turn tragedy into triumph. -Frankl

This from Man's Search For Meaning

Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. -Frankl

 If you get one thing out of reading this, let it be this: We have the power to choose!! Volition!!  

What does all this mean for the sorroworld my Grandmother and I are in? William James would tell me that I just need to change my perception of this event. Robert Solomon would agree, saying that this pain I’m feeling is something to celebrate. It’s a sure indicator that I care very much for my grandmother. That I love her. And when she is in pain, I too, am in pain because we are in this world together. Finally, Mr. Frankl would say that my love for my Grandmother is what makes it worth it. Back to the proverbial phrase, "He who has a why to live can bear with any how." Love is the why. It trumps the how every time. 

“Once an individual’s search for a meaning is successful, it not only renders him happy but also gives him the capability to cope with suffering.” -Frankl 

The loveworld is the meaning that makes this suffering a blessing. That's how I can be optimistic in this situation and in any situation. 


Further thoughts:

IV. Gratefulness 

If that wasn't enough motivation to be grateful and optimistic our current state and wherever we may find ourselves in the future, consider this. 

If this life be not a real fight, in which something is eternally gained for the universe by success, it is no better than a game of private theatricals from which one may withdraw at will. But it feels like a real fight- as if there were something really wild in the universe which we, with our all our idealities and faithfulnesses, are needed to redeem. - William James

Jesus knew his purpose on earth. Jesus who is the son of God, the creator of the universe. God, who crafts butterflies, Krispy Kreme Donuts (thank you!!) and hydrocarbons. Jesus, who is equally divine in nature as his father God, yet as human as you and me and the itch on my back, willingly chose to not let his fear of death stand as a barrier to achieving his purpose on this earth. He was fully aware of the torture that awaited him. It was okay with him. Why? Because he loves us!

Here's the deal: 1). God hates sin, and is completely Holy 2). He will not have anything to do with sin 3). We sin so many times a day that sometimes we don't even know we're sinning.
Jesus knows this. And he knew that sacrificing himself was the only thing that would satisfy God's price for our sin, which is death. Which he gladly payed!

 This is the power and significance of what happened on the cross: In one act of sacrificial love, Jesus absorbed all sin. All of my lust, all of your lies, all of your brothers infidelity, all of your sister's hate, all of your father's drunken rage. Each one of these is punishable by death. But Jesus swallowed it. In one big gulp. He was tortured by the romans centurions, who just happened to be masters in the "art of human suffering." And the best way they knew to torture a man was to crucify him; hang up on a wooden cross via iron spikes driven through each his hands/wrists and one spike through both of his crossed feet. That way every time he needs to breath while he's hanging there he has to use the spike through his feet to push himself up and the spikes through his hands to help the process. To allow his lungs to function.

And Jesus accepted this. Because he loves me so deeply and wants to have a relationship with me so badly. So he did it. He was crucified. And it was finished. The price was paid! We are saved by his Grace! Praise Jesus! Hallelujah!! Amen!

Jesus' purpose is the ultimate purpose. The meaning of meaning. What life is all about. Love. His purpose is to show me how to love someone else. And he preformed the ultimate act of love. He gave his life for me. So he is familiar with this loveworld business. He made it... You know how it feels to be denied love from someone you love? Imagine how much Jesus hurts when I neglect him. All he wants is for me to allow him to be with me. To talk with me. To laugh with me. To cry with me. To bless me in crazy cool ways that I cant even imagine. He wants to be part of my loveworld, and for me to love the people I find myself surrounded by. Because he saved them too. Just like he did me.

V. Love

So if you're still wondering what it is you should do. If you're still wondering what your specific and unique purpose is. I'll just go ahead let tell you. (It's also the secret to living and endlessly happy and fulfilling life so you better take notes!)

Here is is:

Love.

Love. With every ounce of your body
Love. With every word you speak
Love. With every thought you think
Love. With every blink you blink

Among these, my brothers, the greatest is

Love. When you feel as blue as blue can be
Love. When you feel a bit too meek
Love. When you hear someones pain
Love. When you think it's in vain

Love. In this moment

Love. Who you are for who you are
Love. Who you're with for who you're with
Love. Where you've been for where you've been.
Love. Where you are for where you are.

Love.
Love.
Love.
Love.
Love.