In last week’s article, I invited you to join me on a quest to answer The Five Big Questions of Life: Who am I? Why am I here? What am I missing? What is truth? What must I do? Remember, previous articles are always available at http://www.webbweekly.com. You can share articles you find in the Weekly with anyone in the world by going to the website and sharing the link with them.
Before we embark on this quest, I offer just one caution:
A quest does not guarantee success. There are reasons why hunting is not called shooting, and fishing is not called catching. Just because you seek something doesn’t mean it’s out there; just because you pursue something doesn’t mean you can catch it. A quest always includes the risk of disappointment, and even failure, but to those who are willing to take that risk, increased wisdom is the reward.
A quest opens doors of experience available only to those who are willing to abandon their comforts and preferences. Every hunter knows that legally harvesting a trophy buck requires you to leave the warmth of your bed and the comfort of your recliner. Quests aren’t easy; they require risk and sacrifice.
The fact is, truth is truth, even if you don’t like it. If you’re going to embark on a quest to answer The Five Big Questions of Life, then you must be willing to accept the answers, even if they contradict what you have always believed. If you are unwilling to accept the truth, then the quest is doomed from the start. You have a primal choice to make: you can choose to believe what you prefer to be true, or you can choose to believe what is actually true. Just be aware that only the latter leads to freedom. This is why Jesus said, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Are you willing to put your comfortable beliefs at risk in the quest for truth? If not, then don’t waste your time on this quest. Keep smothering the truth under your blankets of comfort and preference. The price you pay, however, will be the loss of freedom — a terrible loss indeed.
This quest may not give you the answers you want, but if you are genuinely willing to seek and pursue, you will gain knowledge and experience, and you will be closer to the truth that can set you free.
For thirty years, my annual quest to arrow a trophy buck ended in failure. Don’t get me wrong, I harvested a lot of average bucks in those years. While they weren’t the trophy I was pursuing, I was always glad to experience a little success and venison along the way.
In time, however, I realized that arrowing a trophy buck would require letting lesser bucks walk by. I had to be willing to go home empty-handed. For a successful hunter, doing so is a sacrifice. My ego took plenty of hits when fellow hunters asked, “Did you get your buck?”
During my quest, I learned that failure is a form of incremental success. Failure teaches us, and if we are willing to learn, it rewards us little by little.
My trophy buck required several years of waiting. Finally, on a solo backpack hunt on state ground in the Pennsylvania Wilds, I arrowed a mature ten-point.
During those years of the quest, I experienced a lot of close calls, plenty of woulda-coulda-shoulda moments, and my fair share of empty-handed trips down the mountain, but every failure made me a better hunter. My quest required risk, sacrifice, and patience. It was worth it.
How long have you been in search of the meaning and purpose of life? How many places have you looked? How many dead-end roads have you traveled? How many times have you tried a new thing, only to be disappointed? Are you tempted to quit?
It took Rory McIlroy seventeen attempts to win the Masters. As the years ticked by, he carried the weight of knowing he was running out of time. He faced ever-increasing scrutiny regarding his ability to close the deal. With every failed attempt, the weight on his shoulders increased. This past summer, Rory conquered the Masters. Not only that, but he also became the sixth golfer in history to conquer the grand slam of golf’s major tournaments. When he holed the winning putt, he fell to his knees and burst into tears. The heavy weight created by years of failure, close calls, criticism, and personal doubt was finally lifted from his shoulders. His unbreakable determination affirms what President Richard Nixon wisely observed about a quest: “A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.”
Have you been defeated along the way? Are you tempted to abandon the quest for truth? Are you weary of dead-end roads and false promises? Has the religious world let you down or cut you off? Have secular critics and naysayers shamed you into silence or caused you to deny the undeniable? Have the tragedies of life beaten you up and left you bruised and bleeding on the side of the road? Are you ready to quit?
Do not lose heart, even if you must wait a bit before finding the right thing. Be prepared for disappointment, also, but do not abandon the quest. —Albert Schweitzer
My friend, the answers you have been pursuing could be just around the corner. Don’t give up. One thing is certain: You’re closer to the truth now than you’ve ever been before.
