Life is Service

After two weeks of provoking Trump vitriol, the most recent Highland OpEd throws a curveball (certainly designed to knock this author off his game). I must acknowledge my lack of qualifications to opine on philosophical questions. That said, as discussed, age is the lens through which we see life’s meaning morph. At 40-something, my perspective on these questions differs from that of someone 70-plus, and that contrast is what makes this exchange meaningful.

I cannot match the decades of exploration into faith traditions, wisdom, literature, and the mind’s architecture. I can, however, appreciate how thought frameworks transform. The “three-brain” theory may have evolved into complex coexisting systems. Because these layers are now understood to be interconnected, true understanding of the brain is revealed not only from looking inward, but also at outward interactions with others.

I have adopted a road map to make sense of our existence: life is service to others. As E.M. Statler stated, “Life is service; the one who progresses is the one who gives his fellow men a little more, a little better service.” These words are a call to foster community. To build it. To support it. And make it a shared trust. These words encourage refrain from drawing unnecessary divisions and recognition that the struggles of our neighbors are our own. True service is relational and carrying others’ burdens to achieve collective well-being is paramount.

A person in his forties does not possess many answers to life’s meaning. But helping others is a pretty good place to start. If we are the ocean contained in one drop, then serving others is really serving oneself.