A student at Georgia Tech asked the following question of Ravi Zaccharias: "You've identified loss of meaning as a problem; so... what should be the meaning?"
His answer (imperfectly transcribed):
"When you're dealing with meaning, I believe meanining needs four components to bring meaning to an individual life...we're living in a postmodernist time where people wonder what "meaning" really means. There are four components to finding meaning in life... (related to childhood) When you are in your years of childhood, the thing that keeps you going is... a sense of wonder about everything you see. But as you get older, you can no longer believe in all the fairy stories; as wonderful as they were, you know they were all figments of people's imaginations. ... In your 20's, the question of Truth becomes supreme, not whether this belief of mine or this experience of mine brings me a sense of wonder, but whether this experience of mine is also based in truth. Truthfulness becomes an important category... Truth in the metaphysical world {must be measured with some logical unit of measurement].... The you come into your 20's and 30's where your commitments are being made and your relationships are being developed, you're looking for love beyond romance, it is a love of relationships... . And finally, you're looking for the concept of security. How do I know that what I believe will ultimately stand the test of time; and is there a life beyond the grave.
What brings meaning is when you can combine a sense of wonder under girded by truth, experiencing the richness of love with the knowledge of security; those four components bring genuine meaning to life. The older you get, the more it takes to fill your heart with wonder; and only God is big enough to fill that heart. ... "
Hear the whole Q & A
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