THE PARALYTIC (Mark 2)

THE DEEPEST HUMAN NEED.

What is a human being's deepest need?

To Freud, the deepest need of the human is pleasure. I call it will to pleasure. Frustrate pleasure, and the human is in mental trouble.

To Adler, the deepest heed is power. The will to power is the central core of the human personality. 

To Dr. Viktor Frankl, it's the will to meaning. The human soul must not, cannot, be stripped of its will to meaning.

Why is meaning so all important? It's human dignity. It is in the Bible, in the Book of Psalms: "And God crowned man with glory and honor". Life has meaning only when and if it preserves the one thing no person can live healthyfully without - dignity as a human being. I cannot, must not, will not survive if I am stripped of all glory, honor, dignity, and sefl-respect. Dignity, self-love, self-esteem, self-worth - that's the ultimate human emotional hunger! Regardless of race, religion, politics, economics, or theology, this is the key (Robert Schuller).

NIGHT VIGIL.

Watch, dear Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight,

and give your angels charge over those who sleep.

Tend your sick ones, O Lord Christ, rest your weary ones.

Bless your dying ones. Soothe your suffering ones.

Pity your afflicted ones. Shield your joyous ones.

And all for your love's sake, Amen. (St. Augustine of Hippo, 354-430, North Africa).

• < Prev
• Next >