Morality- Restoring the Common Good in Divided Times - August 18th
By Jonathan Sacks
Thursday August 18th, 2022
Can We Reason Together - Part III
Chapter 18– Meaning
Welcome everyone to the United Methodist Men’s Book Study –
How did we do with last meeting’s challenge:
As a Christian, understanding that God breathed life in to us, God’s creation, how do we choose to
confer dignity on our selves and others we encounter?
Recap from – BEING HUMAN - Human Dignity
What is Unique about Humanity?
How does being HUMAN set us apart from anything else?
What does Self Consciousness mean?
How does Self Consciousness build and require dignity?
How does our existence as a moral agent set us apart from other creations, and how does this
challenge us?
Chapter 18 - Meaning
How do you measure your ‘meaning’?
Do you feel that your life has meaning?
Do you sometimes struggle to find motivation?
Philosophers have traditionally identified the search for a meaningful life with service of a moral
cause, a community, a country or God.
We as a society now find ourselves with our a moral philosophy. We find ourselves searching for
meaning in “I”.
Today, is the ‘Meaning of our life’ like a balance scale weighting the Good vs the Bad?
The Righteous vs the Evil?
What happens if we tip to the wrong side of the scale?
Devotion to Happiness
If we are devoted only to our own happiness, you fail to realize that things other than yourself have
value.
When everything is available, every lifestyle is offered, when all you have is freedom, but nothing to
guide you in that freedom, It’s not so much that you lose the thread of the meaning of your life, but
you have trouble staying focussed on the questions.
Did We Kill God?
Do we, when we cannot even understand the sacred relationship between ourselves and our creator
and all that was created, discount that creation to the point of killing that creator in our mind?
Do we hear the music of God’s creation, or do we hear silence in your mind?
Fate - The core beliefs of Pagan cultures
Faith - The core belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
Fiction - The core belief of Post-Modern cultures
When we are challenged in the face of death, pride, fear, embarrassment and failure fall away, leaving
us with only what it truly important. - Steve Jobs
Looking back we can connect the dots to see how we got to where we are, but we can’t look forward
into the future. You have to trust in something that moving forward your life still matters.
Life is a story.
What does your story tell about how you responded to other people and the suffering in
the world today.
Great lives respond to the reality of other people
Challenge:
How do we help the people around us?
Listen to their story.
Share your story,
Stretch out your hand to those in need, and turn strangers into fri
Next Week – Part 4, Chapter 19 Why Morality?
Blessings.