~Paul David Tripp
Everyday we read of suffering in our world and I would like to explore the possibility that it is the Interpretation of that suffering that will lead to a response and eventually to a redemptive solution.
Viktor Frankl's Existential Theory
Viktor Frankl's psychological theory is celebrated due to the fact that he personally experienced a Nazi concentration camp as a prisoner during the war. The suffering he experienced and saw, led him to his form of therapy, logotherapy.
Logotherapy asserts "a will to meaning." If we can find meaning in our suffering, healing is fast-tracked. Meaning is like laughter, Frankl says: "You cannot force someone to laugh, you must tell him a joke! Meaning is something to discover rather than to invent."
So how do we find meaning?
According to Frankl, there are three approaches:
1. Through experiential values i.e. by experiencing something or someone we value e.g. Art, music, relationships. Self- sacrificial love being above all else.
2. Through creative values, by “doing a deed" e.g. Helping others through projects or living your own life well.
3. Through attitudinal values e.g. compassion, bravery, a good sense of humour etc.
BUT Frankl is most famous for his understanding of achieving meaning by way of suffering!!
He believes that 'Suffering can be experienced with dignity if there is meaning in it' e.g. seriously ill people, if given an opportunity to suffer bravely, can thereby retain some dignity.
How do we experience this?
Events in life lead to an ‘interpretation’ of that event which then leads to a response.
EVENT -> INTERPRETATION -> RESPONSE
An example from my own life:
Event : I was divorced after 25 years of marriage
Interpretation : I will never be happy again
Response: Hopelessness
OR
Event: I was divorced after 25 years of marriage
Interpretation: It was the worst thing to ever happen to me
Response: I want to help other women who have to deal with such an event (Creative Value)
Frankl is different to any other psychologist in that experiential, creative and attitudinal values are merely surface manifestations of something much more fundamental, which he calls supra-meaning.
Supra-meaning is the idea that there is ultimate meaning in life, meaning that is not dependent on others, on our projects or even on our dignity. It is a reference to God and spiritual meaning. A Redemptive God.
My project to help other women really does impact and enable my healing, but I have found that there is ultimate meaning in my life; my God of my heart turned out to be my redemption.
We have a choice in our response to events in our lives, choose wisely.
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