I made a special visit to the bookstore at the shopping mall to buy the latest book from social researcher Hugh Mackay, who, by the way, is an adjunct member of the Faculty of Arts at our sister institution, Charles Sturt University.
The Good Life identifies seven false leads to what makes life worth living. Here are five—you’ll have to buy the book to read the rest—with Hugh and I’s comments:
1. Certainty
All of us prefer certainty, but the most important things in life are not certain. Albert Einstein once said not everything that matters can be measured, and not everything that can be measured matters. Take the role of faith, for example. The fundamentalist wants to transform faith into certainty, but if we know everything already, there is no further need for education.
2. The future
Obsessing about the future paralyses us. An old Jewish joke illustrates this nicely: “If you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.” This doesn’t mean we make no plans—we’d run out of food, never make appointments, get knocked over crossing the street. It means we heed the teaching of Jesus who tells us not to worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will worry about itself (Matthew 6:34). Living in the present is part of the good life.
4. Intelligence
“What’s the big deal with intelligence?” asks Mackay. “If you’re in the market for a non-religious idol, none is less deserving of your devotion or more futile as an object of worship than intelligence” (p. 99). I get this. Intelligence doesn’t determine our ability to love each other, and we’ve created machines that easily outstrip our ability to calculate. The clincher: “Together, intelligence and goodness form a powerful combination, but if you had to choose one for your children, which would it be?” (p. 105)
6. The Simple Life
I admire those who withdraw from the world and devote themselves to the simple life. But I’m not convinced it’s the “good life” even if the person devotes themselves to praying for the rest of us. The dangers: arrogance and social irresponsibility.
7. The Meaning of life
Mackay says perhaps life is not something about which we can reasonably ask, “What does it mean?” “You can ask how it originates, or why it exists on this particular planet, or how to establish its presence or absence, in trees or rocks, for instance, but not what it means” (p. 119). Mackay is not saying our lives are pointless but that we “invest” them with meaning. I can live as if my life has no meaning, or I can also invest my life with meaning. Lest you wonder, Mackay is a Christian.
Do you agree with his false leads? Are you seeking a good life or a good time?
Mackay’s definition of the good life is a life “lived for others.”“It’s more a case of ‘Who needs me?’ than ‘Who am I?’” (p. 127).
Avondale’s motto, “For a greater vision of world needs,” reminds us of our mission as a Christian higher education learning community: we dedicate ourselves to service to church and community.
What does it mean to live the good life? And what did Jesus mean when He said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10, NIV)?
At the beginning of a new year at Avondale, I hand these questions over to you.
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