The Ultimate Why
A The preceding story, which is told so well in Joseph Frazier Wall’s biography Andrew Carnegie, highlights a vital point for understanding calling. When we discuss our plans and endeavors, we automatically think of notions like “aims,” “ambition,” “achievements,” assessment,” and so on. A book entitled The Call written by Os Guinness, published by Thomas Nelson which was released on 07 October 2003. Download The Call Books now! Available in PDF, EPUB, Mobi Format. The Call continues to stand as a classic, reflective work on life's purpose.
The Call Os Guinness Review
Summary
This chapter adresses the need for a why in life, the idea is that the vast majority of the persuits in our life do not actually adress the 'why' of life. The idea is that in order to ground our lives in a solid 'why' only the call of God is strong enough. Os sums it up like this: 'calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.' (pg 4) Os seems to be of the mind that life can only find true meaning when it is lived as a response to something from outside of itself. The ultimate source to respond to is God, and he is most certainly outside the scope of our direct physical and temporal life. 'That is why calling provides the Archimedean point by which faith moves the world' (pg. 7)
Freedom
The first intersting in this chapter is the re-opening of the discussion on freedom that was started in the introduction on pg viii. Os here uses Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamazov to make a metaphor to the emptiness of life when there is no purpose. In my opinion it is perhaps a misleading metaphor. I was reading a quote by H.L. Mencken and thought of TBK's Inquisitor.'[The average man] is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor.' It echos the same concept that in general people do not actually want to be free. Just as te Inquisitor says 'For the secret of man's being is not only to live... but to live from something definite' so we find it mirrored in Menchen's words.
This is important because we need to remain aware what Os thoughts are on the issue of freedom. Remeber that in the introduction all three ways of purpose (answers) adress freedom in some way. The eastern says it is the freedom from individuality, the secularist says it is the freedom to choose it for yourself, and the Christian say it is the freedom to answer the call.
Personally I feel that freedom is something that is very misunderstood and is a much more daunting concept that it is often portrayed to be. To be free is to be totally responsible for oneself and to have to affirm life. The notion that mankind is not up to the task is not hard to believe. Our entire society and culture is securely focused on defering our responsibility to another so that we may give up our freedom and loose our individuality in the masses. The idea that freedom is an inalienable right places freedom in a passive position. But freedom demands action and is not passive at all, that is why the words of Nietzsche, the Inquisitor, and Mencken seem to ring more true. Only a select few, the strong, actually have the fortitude required to embody and embrace freedom and through it life.
Kierkegaard
On page 3 Os quotes Soren Kierkegaard: 'The thing is to understand myself, to see what Gad really wants me to do; the thing is to find a truth which is true for me, to find the idea for which I can live and die.' Now the thing about Kierkegaard is that he a true subjectavist, and that for him all of life is in the moment and needs to be experienced. He abhored the idea of trying to objectively look at life, to try to evaluate life on some impersonal level. Os seems to let this understanding slide as it conflicts directly with his idea of the Archimedean point on page 7. Kierkegaard wants to find what is true for him because that is the only turth that is actually important, truth as defined or understood by some other standard is worthless. Only a truth that is derived directly from the personal experience and living life of Soren is valuable to Soren. If anything Kierkegaard would argue with Tocqueville and say that to posit the importance of life beyond it is a horrible act indeed, for it devalues life lived to the point of mearly and opening act... Nietzsche would agree.
Science
The critique of science in this chapter along with the other things mentioned on page 4 is not so much that any of these things are bad, but are just not capable of providing meaning to life. It allows us to explore life and its intricacies but is hard pressed to give us the answer to the why question. The fear though here is to throw the baby out with the bathwater, philosophy, science, politics, and religion are important for the very fact that they allow us to add flesh to the framework of life.
Archimedes