Escaping Despair:Moving from Existentialism to a Personal Relationship with Christ

The essence of existentialism is true. We have a sense that we are meant for excellence but we find ourselves with no possible way of acheiving it. Solomon (or the writer of Ecclesiastes) was the father of existentialism. He even passed through the stage where he had given up hope; meaningless, meaningless, and had suggested that we should pursue excellence and to live, despite the hopelessness of our calling. He was able to find few good men and few things worth living for but he said to live, to seek God and follow His commandments is the whole duty of mankind. To strive for excellence even though excellence will always elude our grasp.

So, here we are. The entire Western world is funtionally existentialist even though there aren't many people who even know what that means. We have an entire generation, called X, who have lived their entire lives in a non-stop mid-life crisis. Every generation after them has been stuck in this same paradigm, because there is no hope. They have seen the options fall one by one. Drugs distract from the despair for a time but only add to it in the long run. Pure existentialism uses double-think to convince you that depression/despair are at least acceptable, (if not actually a good thing) even though we know that it is a bad thing. The religious church has taught that the Ten Commandments are still the highest expression of the Christian life, even though Christ has said that the Law brings death over and over and over. Humanism makes the same error of equating lots of microevolution to macro evolution by saying that doing lots of small good deeds will somehow, someday make us good people individually and coorporately.

i have sat in despair. i have realized quickly that "success" will not answer the despair. i have realized over time that my addictions only add to my despair. i know within my deepest parts that i cannot make friends with despair because i was not meant for pain. i was not made to suffer. There is no answer... but one.

The only answer to the internal discord that i feel is time with Christ.

Why? When i am with Him, not only do i feel Excellent, i become Excellent. By His blood and the Holy Spirit (comforter in my despair) i am Holy. Not in theory, but in Truth. With Him (not just in my pocket, but in my life in intimacy) i am strong, wise, humble, bold, full of every good thing. i am beautiful.

Salvation is not enough. Without the relationship, i am just one more moody Christian wishing for death, so that i can go to Heaven.


Hope is not only about the future it is about this moment...
this one...
right..
now.