Tag Archives: Viktor Frankl

How Do We React to Loss of Control?

We fear loss of control. We fear finding ourselves at the mercy of another person or of events “out of our control.” Suppose we experience a sudden accident, lose our job or our house in a recession, or suffer from an act of terrorism?

Perhaps wisdom begins with the possibility of failure. We can work for a certain end, for job advancement, for our candidate in a political race. We will not always win, or we may be disappointed when we do win and find it isn’t as rewarding as we thought it would be.

We may pray with Saint Augustine to change the things we can but accept the things we cannot. We relinquish, little by little, the idea that we are God.

Mans Search for MeaningWhen circumstances beyond our control and not of our making place us in bad, even horrible situations, we can remember the lessons of Viktor Frankl. Imprisoned in a German concentration camp, at the mercy of those who hated his race, Frankl continued to develop his inner thoughts and ideas. After release from the camp, Frankl expressed those ideas in a book read by millions, Man’s Search for Meaning.

We may not be able to control what happens to us, he said, but we have a choice as to how we react to those circumstances.

 

That Human Trait: To Demand Meaning

 

From all indications, U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens dedicated his intellect and talents to serving his country and the cause of peace. Yet he died, asphyxiated in a burning building set on fire by citizens of a nation he tried to help. Three other Americans died in Libya as well, victims of riots caused by an obscure video none of them had any connection with.

News stories interrupt our days with other reports of rampages by sick people who kill and maim innocent strangers. In the Middle East. In our own neighborhoods. How do we respond? How do we find direction?

Viktor Frankl in his classic Man’s Search for Meaning did not believe one should seek suffering. A survivor of Nazi concentration camps, Frankl did believe that when suffering was unavoidable, we could find meaning in it. His book is a witness to his beliefs.

When we face times of suffering, Frankl indicates, we are better able to bear them if we have purpose, a reason for living. During such times as these, those of us who are Christians renew our commitment to our faith in a purposeful God. We do not worship suffering—Christ teaches us to love life—but suffering is a part of our story. Our salvation came through suffering. We may be lost in confusion for a time, like the disciples who stumbled through an awful Friday and Saturday. As author Tony Campolo’s book title states, however: It’s Friday, but Sunday’s Comin’.

It’s Friday.

The Cult of Death

Osama bin Laden’s obituary was featured in The Economist this past week. The article mentioned bin Laden’s famous dictum outlining the fundamental difference between his followers and Americans. Americans love life but his followers love death, he said. Apparently he believed this love of death would defeat those who love life.

Are those who love death stronger than those who love life? The signature act of death worshipers is the suicide bomber. Is this activist a type of courageous martyr, who also makes unwilling martyrs of those innocents he or she kills?

Viktor Frankl, a Jewish psychiatrist, survived a Nazi concentration camp. Like the victim of a suicide bomber, he suffered because of a fanatic’s belief that his life was not of value. Frankl learned much from his concentration camp suffering, but he wrote in his classic Man’s Search For Meaning: “But let me make it perfectly clear that in no way is suffering necessary to find meaning … To suffer unnecessarily is masochistic rather than heroic.”

Jesus did not wish to suffer on the cross. He did so because of love, because he wanted others to live. To die so that others may enjoy better lives, it seems to me, is the only reason to choose death. To love not only our life but the life of our neighbor is the beginning of the strength that defeats evil.