The Absurdity of it All

When I was in high school, one of my favorite classes was “Speech and Drama.” It allowed us to act out our naturally whimsical teenage passions with approval. Popular during this time was an element of drama known as “theater of the absurd.” Growing out of the existential world view that was popularized by modern writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre, the essence of the absurd plots is the proposition that man is born into a world without purpose, and that he must commit himself to a cause for his life to have any meaning. It’s easy to understand how this existential concept of life became so popular in the post WWII years. Never mind who introduced it to the world stage, it was Sartre that adopted its tenets and became the major influence for its impetus in the literary circles of post war Europe. When considering what the world, particularly Europe, went through in the preceding decade, what we discovered about the depths to which man was capable sinking, and by observing the landscape that remained, it’s not difficult to see that absurdity is a natural calculus. Surviving to this very day, I see the tentacles of absurdity in just about every endeavor of life’s theater. Elvis sang, “All the world’s a stage and each must play a part.” When one looks at the political stage, the world of entertainment, the biting confrontations between people in our own neighborhoods, one wants to shrug the shoulders and wag the head and wonder just where these people get their scripts for the parts they are playing. Just yesterday I noticed an article in the newspaper about a convicted murderer in prison who is seeking a taxpayer-funded sex change operation and has asked a judge to order electrolysis treatments to eliminate the stress of unwanted facial hair. The absurdity of this scenario goes even further. The judge is actually deliberating on the prospect of approval.

When one looks at the world from the inside – out, the only conclusion available is that life and existence are absolute absurdities. We are relegated to seeing from a finite human perspective that shows us nothing but what the capacity of our self-contained bodily systems will allow. But our design doesn’t end with our own limited reach. In his “Confessions” Augustine said, speaking of God, “. . . our hearts are restless till they find rest in thee.” Until we find our purpose in God, we will ever be searching and ever be disappointed. We will search the stars and hope for a signal; we will build ziggurats in our quest for significance; we will annihilate our kinsmen to prove our worth. But only God can satisfy the longing; only he can lend meaning in a world that seems too bizarre for description; only the designer can reveal the blueprint. Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life, and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) We don’t have to be satisfied with absurdity. This world is not our destination. The sex-change loonies don’t have to define the meaning of our reality. When we turn our existence over to Christ, we will essentially transfer our citizenship to heaven; (Eph. 2:6) and “old things are passed away, the old life is gone, a new life has begun.” (2 Cor. 5:17) So, when the zanies start to close in on you, when it appears that the inmates are running the institution – rejoice and repeat after me: “Hallelujah! I’ve read the end of the book, and we win!!!