Finding Meaning at the End of the World

“Death has a way of reshuffling one’s priorities.” - Captain Jack Sparrow

Lately, I’ve been gravitating to movies about the end of the world. Don’t Look Up, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. It seems in step with the times. If the world was reborn in the 1960s, it feels like it’s ending in the 2020s. Whether or not it is – whether The End is near or far off – our job is the same. Martin Luther said, “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” 

But what is the apple tree we should plant? What is our job? This question plagued us as high school graduates and continues to plague many of us today: “What should I do with my life?” (or for the spiritually turmoiled, “What is God’s will for my life?”) 

Everyone has a theory:

“Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life.” 

“Don’t pursue your passion; pursue opportunity.” 

“Find where your greatest joy meets the world’s greatest need.” 

These mantras are quickly followed by “…and look how well it worked for me.” Whether or not success is due to the mantra or dumb luck, is unclear. It’s not that any of these mantras are wrong, but neither are they the exclusive, universal answer. The truth is different people need to hear different things, a single philosophy won’t guide everyone, and someone may need to switch philosophies throughout their life. I’m certainly not going to be another insufferable twenty-something-year-old who suggests I’ve figured it all out. There are enough social media con artists and motivational pop psychologists without my voice adding to the noise.

…but while we’re on the subject, here’s something I’ve found useful…

I recently wrote a list of the most worthy pursuits. Intellectually, one can argue every job is noble in its own way – that the police officer needs the thief – but we all have a personal hierarchy. For me, garbage collecting is far nobler than sports commentating (the usefulness of which I equate to social media con artists). Nobler still are the doctors, psychologists, and pastors who attend to people’s bodies, minds, and souls. I see the highest calling as the songwriters, actors, minstrels, and poets who make us see how the world could be in spite of the way that it is.*

We don’t have to share the same hierarchy, and one’s own is inclined to change over time as different things take precedent. This isn’t just about career. Character, relationships, adventure, ministry, worship. In all of these areas, there is a highest and most worthy thing we can aim for. Why not aim for that? What else are we going to do? Whether or not we achieve what we aim for is largely beyond our control. But we get to try.**

If we all try, eventually someone’s going to make it. Someone’s going to be the most captivating actor, closest friend, most loving wife, best father, clearest voice. I want it to be me, but it doesn’t have to be. Even if we don’t make it to that level, even if we try and fall short (as most of us will), we can still make our corner of the world better. And if all of us are doing that by aiming for what is highest and most worthy, the world will be immeasurably better.

It’s an intimidating level of effort and responsibility and with it comes the very real threat of failure. The stakes are high and the suspense is heavy. But it also offers a sort of protection. We are less likely to be paralyzed by pain and confusion. Meaning sustains us through suffering. This is what philosophers are always telling us: life is violent, uncertain, arbitrary, dark, and short but if we have purpose and meaning, we can live with it. There is a confidence that we are where we need to be and we are doing what we need to do. Regardless of the outcome, we are doing our job, and that’s all we can do. 

Even when life circumstances restrict our opportunities, we can always pursue the highest thing available. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl describes how prisoners in the concentration camps of World War II found meaning within the tiny and miserable scope of their condition. I know old, bedridden prayer warriors who knit blankets for the poor and do far more than most of us in putting good out into the world.

There are times when we don’t know what the highest calling is. For most of my life, I didn’t know what I valued. I was curious about everything, good at little, had lots of potential, and no experience. When we are uncertain and everything is chaos, darkness, and the end of the world, we move forward by doing the next right thing. Do the dishes, call a friend, plant an apple tree. “Trust the process,” the acting coach tells me. I may not see where it’s going and I certainly can’t control it, but I can trust that if I do my job, I will be able to look back and see what God was doing in and through me the whole time.

In the lyrics to The End of the World, Rob Dickinson writes, “If there were five more minutes of air, would you panic and hide, or run for your life, or stand here and spend them with me?” The prospect of the world ending reminds us what we value most. It can recalibrate us when we get distracted by the insignificant things daily screaming for attention. How would I live if I had five more years? How would I spend my last day, my last five minutes? Pursue that now. 

J.

P.S. For a cautionary word in taking the End-of-the-World thought experiment too far, we turn to Fight Club: “Marla’s philosophy of life, she told me, is that she can die at any moment. The tragedy of her life is that she doesn’t.” There’s an element of wishful thinking to the End of the World; it’s easier to live with than the prospect of going the distance. Walt Kelly knew this when he wrote, “Wishful thinking? Believing the BOMB will drop is wishful? Yep, there’s no easy, quick way out. We’re gonna have to live through our whole lives… win, lose, or draw.” It’s little wonder we hope for an apocalypse. But in all likelihood, we’ll have to put in the work of a whole life spent pursuing the highest and most worthy thing. Which come to think of it, might not be so bad.

*The second half of this sentence is ripped out of the Hadestown songbook.

**These are thoughts that have been articulated more eloquently by Dr. Jordan Peterson

June 6, 2023