Meaning-Making Part 6
March 9, 2025
Meaning-Making Part 6
A meaningful experience engages our mind, and we embody that experience in some profound way. A meaningful experience naturally involves our hearts and emotions, but most of all, it reverberates in our souls.
Meaningful experiences are related to the things we love, whether they are people, animals, cherished things, places, conversations, or activities. I recall a short but meaningful conversation with my daughter Lauren when she was six. She said only three words, but they still resonate in my soul. I said, “Lauren, thanks for being my daughter,” she responded, “No problem, Daddy,” and continued with her activities.
Why did that exchange find resonance in my soul? In reflection, I believe I must have been delighted that Lauren was indeed mine. She may have done one of her sweet things or something that pleased me, and I wanted to thank her for being mine. And her answer was so simple and understated. It was as if she were saying, “Daddy, I am yours; don’t sweat it.” Her words touched me forever. That was very meaningful for me and will always be. It was unplanned meaning-making.
We can have meaningful experiences that are not on the level of soul. These are of the ego mind and affect our heart’s emotions as well as our bodies. But they are on the ego level and do not come from the depths of our soul. I recall a time when I was a young man and dominated by my ego mind. I cut short a vacation because of an overwhelming obligation to a commitment. Cutting our vacation short, affected Lark and the people we were with. In reflection, I now see that my fear of not carrying through with my church commitment was short-sighted and ego-based. I could have easily gotten someone to cover for me. But my ego, at the time, was intensely focused on consistency and following through with commitments. This time however, I did it to the exclusion of the needs of others. Leaving my vacation earlier that I had to was meaningful (to my ego self) but not to my soul.
When we are solely in the ego mind, we focus on its wishes, desires, and its image of us. In the ego mind, things are less relaxed; there is a frenetic cadence to life— the ego drives us to achieve its aims. If we are not frenetic, we are still caught in our ego fixation, which closes our eyes to our true nature. Therefore, we can feel meaning when we are in the ego, but if we identify with and are primarily driven by the ego mind, it’s meaningful experiences likely apply to the ego, not our soul.
It’s vital to discern if our experiences are meaningful to our ego mind and its life story or to our soul and its divine story.
Spiritual practice: Reflect on a couple of your most meaningful experiences. Are they related to your ego or your soul?
Self-inquiry: how would you go about making more meaning for your soul?
Dear God,
For the gift of discernment, I pray wholeheartedly! In your name, Amen
