How Spiritual Discovery Leads To The Meaning Of Life

By Doug Pedersen

What To Do When You Feel Like You Don't Matter

Why do people struggle with the meaning of life? Because life likes to slap people in the face!

Why does life give people lemons? To keep their cauliflower from turning brown, of course!

What do you call a person that gives reckless life advice to people? Life Hack.

Feel better now? I'm kidding, of course.

This article is for you if you feel insignificant and like no one listens. Or if you feel trapped in your circumstances. This article is for you if you believe that people are corrupt or that the world is dead. If you feel like life has no meaning, like you don't have meaning, this article is for you.

A survey from the Pew Research Center (2017) shows that Americans have no problem finding meaning in life. People find meaning in their family, career, or with their money. A more recent Pew study (2021) shows that we also see society as a source of meaning. However, "much of the emphasis is negative." Credit COVID-19 and the 2020 presidential election.

Is Pew's research the answer? Most people experience family conflict. Millions become dissatisfied and disengaged at work. Many never achieve the level of financial success they desire. The truth is, these aspects of life can result in significant stress and strain for us.

What about the hardships we encounter? I know people who lost a child. Two friends are bitterly divorced. I'm friends with two ex-cons, a drug abuser, and someone with severe anxiety. A good friend hasn't held steady work in ten years. A pastor I know committed suicide. I'm a glutton. What do these experiences mean in our lives?

Missing a soul-level connection to our experiences can lead to feeling like we don't matter, which can happen to anyone, including spiritual people. We all question our meanings. But understand, it stimulates self-discovery and character growth.

Struggling with the ultimate meaning of life can be overwhelming. In this article, I express how I experience spiritual discovery. I will demonstrate how living a life that generates spiritual value will provide you with purpose, direction, and meaning in your life. Accordingly, prioritize the following when you feel like your life has no meaning:

Discovery #1: Your emotional fitness

Discovery #2: Your spiritual work

Discovery #3: Your relationship to the divine

Emotional Fitness Opens You Up to the Meaning of Life

You likely recall what quarantine felt like. Remember 2020? A belief that life has no meaning is similar. It separates you, in a sense. But that doesn't make your belief accurate. It could be that your whole body system (body, mind, spirit) is operating incoherently and is therefore feeling the separation. Let's examine.

Being in a state of incoherence occurs when we're stressed or under pressure (The HeartMath Solution, 1999). When accompanied by negative emotions—like worry, disappointment, resentment, irritation, anger—the heart, brain, and systems that control most of our bodily functions (immune, digestive, etc.) fail to work in harmony. This state damages our health; it ages us prematurely. When physically incoherent, we don't think or perceive situations clearly. We're not creative. We feel drained. It's like feeling hungover without having the party. Indeed, many people are chronically stressed. Incoherence is spiritual quarantine.

The opposite is available to us. Internal coherence is the state where we feel connectedness and a sense of order. There is harmony between the heart, brain, and systems that control most of our bodily functions. Positive emotional states—like appreciation, care, ease, love—create coherence in the human body system. Coherence improves our health. It's youthful and fosters physical longevity and vitality. When physically coherent, we gain new perceptions and the resilience to convert stress into character growth and empowerment (The HeartMath Solution, 1999). Coherence is spiritual liberation—potential.

Research shows that considering the ultimate meaning of life can be a foundation of stress and struggle (Pargament, 2020). Consider the following if you're constantly questioning yourself:

Do you feel that your life doesn't matter?

Do you feel like life has no meaning?

Are you stressed?

Do you feel irritation or frustration?

Do you feel resentment—mildly or intensely?

How about anger—mildly or significantly?

Do you feel low on energy?

Do you feel drained each day?

Do you feel like you have nothing left to give?

What state are you living in if you answered "yes"—incoherence or coherence?

If you question yourself when feeling poorly—incoherently—you will always be quarantined, separated, kept from the truth of who you are. Therefore, you want access to your natural coherent state—always! You especially need it when you question your ultimate meaning. Your questioning will lead to the truth, but only when your awareness is open to new perceptions, and you have the resilience to convert your stressors into character growth and empowerment.

A commitment to daily self-care will help you reach coherence more often. Self-care includes proper diet, rest, exercise, good relationships, and more. However, a fitting, well-prepared, and playful emotional fitness routine is needed if you answer "yes" to the questions above. It would be best if you practiced accessing positive emotional states. You need to let your body system reach its natural coherent state. Practice by making excellent and moral choices. Be honest and authentic. Build confidence. Endurance. Resilience. Your character. Meditate on and reframe your hardships. Do not ignore or bury them. Seek help from a friend, mentor, coach, therapist, or clergy. Make sure you're feeling good and doing good before deciding your ultimate value. It's the surefire way to receive the truth.

Spiritual Work Is the Path to Discovering Your Life's Meaning

Forget what you believe about the meaning of life for a minute. What's motivating you to question your life anyway? What's your intention? You probably haven't thought to ask yourself that. The answer is critical because the motivation behind our thoughts (our intentions) is spiritual content. Intentions have spiritual value (Urantia Book, 1955).

Your intentions are likely good and pure. You sincerely want to know. Deepak Chopra teaches in his meditation training that questions like "Who am I?" and "What do I want?" are soul questions. I teach that these and other questions like "Why am I here?" and "How do I have a meaningful life?" are fundamental questions of self.

We all ask these questions in some form or another. It's natural to wonder who you are and how you fit in the world. Questioning self leads to growth and self-discovery. It's like gravity—you can't resist it. Accept that this period of questioning is well-intentioned and has spiritual value. It's spiritual work. Spiritual work includes experiences that mature your intentions into those proven to be morally good.

Jesus teaches character growth and how to be morally good. His parables express the value of love and mercy among one another. The Beatitudes from The Sermon on the Mount contain eight blessings: the merciful, peaceful, and pure heart. He also warns against the four woes—griefs. Jesus' own life is a demonstration of love and mercy in action. His new commandment, "As I have loved you, you must love one another," is reinforced by his disciples. Galatians 5:22 says, "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." Spiritual work produces more excellent intentions that lead to the traits listed here.

Ask yourself if it's desirable to live by and with morally good intentions.

Is courage desirable?

Is altruism desirable?

Is hope desirable?

Is faith desirable?

Is the love of truth desirable?

Is idealism desirable?

Is loyalty desirable?

Is unselfishness desirable?

Is pleasure desirable?

Are the attributes of God desirable?

Is it desirable to experience these in your life here and now?

You are ready for advanced spiritual work if you answered "yes" to any of the above questions. Since intentions are spiritual content and have value, setting an honest intention to seek the truth about the meaning of life, and pursuing the answer with zeal and vigor, will result in the answers your heart desires. As Jesus said: "Ask, and will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you."

Advanced spiritual work includes studying scripture and religious/spiritual texts, meditation, and prayer. Dedicate time every day for reading and study. Read the Bible—Psalms and the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and James. Study texts of the New Age community—the teachings of the Ascended Masters. Examine the Vedas and Upanishads. Spend time with the Torah, Pali Canon, and the I-Ching. Read The Urantia Book. Explore all scriptures you find interesting or curious. Do this, and you will find a wealth of inspiration for advanced spiritual work.

Spend time in daily meditation and genuine reflection. Meditation has many physical benefits, including reducing stress, releasing tension, improving sleep, etc. Meditation is where you surrender, assimilate your study, and explore personal truths. It's how your soul eats. Meditation is the best way to process, unfold, and implement all you learn. It cultivates mental awareness and capacity—meaning.

Here are several scriptures to meditate on that support my point:

"Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

"Whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night." (Psalms 1:2)

"Be still, and know that I am God." (Psalms 46:10)

"There is…one God and Father of all, who is above all and in all." (Ephesians 4:6)

Seeking God Reveals Your Relationship to Him and Everyone Else

Enduring a life trauma or a personal upheaval can twist anyone's belief system. No one likes disappointment. No one plans to have a lack of confidence or to be insecure. People dislike uncertainty. Self-pity is not a goal. Life experience and maturity help people make sense of their traumas and upheavals. However, these mental and emotional patterns are forms of selfishness. Seeking God—honestly, intentionally, and individually—is how transformation and meaning spring to life. A relationship with God is how you access love and mercy.

How do you seek God? Start right now and meditate on your relationship with Him. Meditate on His relationship with you. Jesus teaches that God is the Father of all. Your Father; my Father; our Heavenly Father. Consider this Father-child relationship. Remember how you related to your parents? Then to your entire family as you grew? Then to your community, race, and the world? Now enlarge this concept and adjust your perspective to all creation, the cosmos. What does life mean now? Whose family are you part of? Who are you really?

Really.

Who are you?

I ask this question in stress management workshops. People typically answer with an "experience stack" and make it their final identity. They say things like I'm a nurse, a lawyer, a preacher, a father, an alcoholic, a failure, and more. No one ever says, "My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, which is within me and which I have received from God." Paul taught this to the Corinthians. No one ever says, "I am a son or daughter of God." How does your belief in the meaning of life evolve if you accept this identity?

Paul is saying that we are directly related to divinity. The prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah all taught that we experience God as individuals. As individuals, God loves us, cares for us, works through us, shares with us. What about the afterlife? Jesus also said, "In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you" (John 14:2).

Understand that you have a place in the cosmos—in God's creation. You are in God's family. He is your Father, and He is calling you closer. Accept the adventure. Live in faith. Attune your mind to the causation, duty, and adoration of His love and mercy. It is said that a thousand years is like one day with God. Your life has a purpose. It is just the beginning of living—a shadow of real life. You are to spend your life learning, growing, and joyously ascending your spirit and soul within God's Family.

Make sense? Sound good?

Seeking God—honestly, intentionally, and individually—is how transformation and meaning spring to life. Why not trust that God is your Father? Why not trust the indwelling Spirit that lives within you? Why not rely on this divine presence to minister to you, comfort you, unfold your cosmic career. Seek God with all of your heart and mind. Commit to doing His will. Surrender to the inner Spirit. Commit to moral living and moral choices in each act and episode of your life. You will make mistakes. That is expected and encouraged. However, His love and mercy are accessible to you. Develop your direct relationship with God. Speak to God through prayer. Listen to God through meditation. Accept your role in His family and discover the true meanings in the Good News. The Family of God is alive and well! You are secured in it.

Final Thoughts

Living a human life is like playing Escape Room. You must solve complex puzzles to advance, escape and finish. Sometimes the riddles don't make sense. They're hard. Other players in the room confuse and step over each other. Every once in a while, you get an insight and unlock a combination. If you don't quit playing, that is. You eventually get clues, receive help from the outside moderator, rely on teamwork, and get out. You escape the room.

Don't quit playing Escape Room. You can get out of the mental maze you are in.

Explore your emotional fitness daily. Insist that your body system operates coherently. The resilience you build will convert your stressors into character growth and empowerment. You need both to set more excellent intentions, to live a life of high spiritual content and value. Commit to individual spiritual work. Your study and meditation will be the key to opening the storehouse of meanings locked in your heart. Grow and seek God with your full attention. This is the way to establish the ultimate purpose and joy of living that settles your soul. Go direct. It's the way to embody the love and mercy that created you.

We have discussed how spiritual discovery leads to the meaning of life. Know that spiritual discovery is not a quick fix to the trauma or upheaval you're feeling. It is, however, the direction that will lead you to greater levels of harmony and quality in your life. Don't remain overwhelmed and discouraged. You are never given more than you can handle. Contrast is an influential teacher. You are meant for more. The Family of God is alive and well! You are secured in it.