In Theory: Reflections on ‘What’s it all for?’
The British Humanist Assn. recently began a poster campaign in the London Underground offering a daily “Thought for the Commute,” not only to garner attention for the association, but also to get commuters to ponder the meaning of life.
According to the Telegraph newspaper, “the posters feature short quotations from writers, celebrities and humanist thinkers in answer to the question: ‘What’s it all for?’”
If you were allowed to mount a similar poster campaign in places like Metrolink stations around the Southland to attract the attention of commuters, what phrases or quotations from other thinkers who share your faith might you incorporate in the artwork?
Q: What’s it all for, in your view?
“What’s it all for?” Depending on your faith and/or worldview, there could be different answers, and every one equally valid. In the Westminster Confession, which came out of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, there is this question: What is the chief end of man? And then the correct answer is given (!): “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.”
So does one “glorify God” by commuting to work every day? Again, that would depend on one’s faith and one’s outlook. There is the story of two men, laying bricks. Each is asked what he is doing. One says, “I’m making $25 an hour building this wall.” The other one says, “I’m making the same amount of money, but I’m building a cathedral.” Same job, different outlook.
The question was asked what writers or thinkers we would quote, and the first thing that comes to my mind is an old cartoon that I saw on black-and-white TV in the late 1950s. A football game is being shown, and the sponsor is a life insurance company. The announcer says, “We’ll have this word from our sponsor, and then be back with the opening kickoff right after this.” The sponsor says, with a straight face, “Kick off. Kick off. Are you prepared to kick off?” And THAT would be my message inside a commuter bus or train: “Kick off. Kick off. Are you prepared to kick off?” Maybe such a question would make whoever read it think, “What is it all for?”
The Rev. Skip Lindeman
La Cañada Congregational Church
La Cañada Flintridge
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My inclination would be mainly to use direct quotes from the Bible instead of those from theologians or philosophers. No other words match the persuasive, encouraging and convicting power of God’s word. God told the prophet Jeremiah “Is not My word like fire…and like a hammer which shatters a rock?” (Jeremiah 23:29). David tells us that the Bible is also restorative: “I am exceedingly afflicted; revive me, O Lord, according to Thy word” (Psalm 119:107). Psalm 19:7 says, “The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” We could all use a healthy dose of wisdom to navigate the turbulent waters of life. Every person needs the goodness that only the Bible can give them.
My main message would be the good news, or “gospel”, that God loved the world so much that he sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to pay the full penalty for our sins through his death on the cross. This is what Paul the Apostle wrote about when he said, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). In the larger scheme of things, life is all about being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, living a life that glorifies him and experiencing in full the goodness he offers to us all.
Pastor Jon Barta
Burbank
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First, I’ll answer the question, then we can worry about whom to quote. Reformation theologians formed an excellent answer, based on the Bible, and it’s found its way into a vast array of denominational faith statements, creeds, and catechisms. “What’s it all for” is reworded to “What is the chief end of man?” That’s really the concern, isn’t it; “What’re we here for?” The answer is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” In other words, this is God’s world, his laws, and his creation. We are his creatures, his work-of-art, and we find our meaning, purpose, and happiness only in relation to him.
So if doing a poster campaign, I’d quote the most concise sayings of biblical heroes, then I’d add the stalwart memorables of Christian notables throughout the ages since; words like “Who is on the Lord’s side?” (Moses, Exo 32:26) or “You must be born again” (Jesus, John 3:7). These get to the point quickly. But then ponderous successor saints who affirmed these words said things like C.S. Lewis: “A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell…You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.” Much more wordy, don’t you think? but right on; the rhetorical answer being that Jesus is in fact God, incarnate.
Myriad philosophers, scientists, and statesmen could be quoted to stimulate commuter thinking about Christ as God and man’s need of Him. Hey, let’s start a counter-campaign! Who’s on the Lord’s side?
The Rev. Bryan Griem
Montrose Community Church
Montrose
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The LDS church has conducted similar poster campaigns that address the purpose and meaning of mortal life. Some of the more notable include the “I am a Mormon” and “The book is better” posters displayed in response to the Broadway musical “The Book of Mormon.” Utilizing a different venue, the church has produced a series of short videos called “Mormon Messages” that appear on YouTube.
The church’s experience suggests that, done well, posters stimulate considerable public interest. After the “I’m a Mormon” posters and billboards went up, there was an increase in traffic to the mormon.org website. The church reported that most of the new page views originated from mobile devices, indicating that many people clicked onto the site outside their homes, probably not long after seeing one of the posters.
The church’s latest outreach to the public is coming not in the form of a poster, but a feature-length documentary called “Meet the Mormons.” The movie, which opens in theaters Oct. 10, introduces the LDS culture and beliefs by examining the lives of six members living in countries including the U.S., Costa Rica and Nepal. The film, like the earlier campaigns, conveys a positive message that God lives and that he knows and loves each of us. Any profit from screenings will be donated to the American Red Cross.
To answer the original question, what quotation would I personally choose for a poster, I would look for something along the lines of Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” This, I believe, is the wisest counsel for anyone seeking to understand the reason for our existence.
Michael White
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
La Crescenta
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Group 1
Act down to earth now, and invest in your heavenly future.
Don’t be arrogant, the soul you save may be your own.
Group 2
A mitzvah a day, keeps the Yetzer Ha Ra (Evil Inclination) Away.
Group 3
We are Created in the Image of God,
Use Righteous behavior to Create,
In the Image of God.
Rabbi Hillel Says:
If I am not for myself,
Who will be for me
But, if I am only for myself,
What am I ?
If not now,
When?
Rabbi Mark Sobel
Temple Beth Emet
Burbank