You are here.

Your life is rescued into the past.

It can not be blotted out.

You are here

And that is forever.

But what will we choose to rescue? What is precious enough to preserve even if no one ever gazes upon it again like a treasure buried behind the tree in the field only you remember. Will it have mattered?

Certainly.

Do you know Viktor Frankl? I don’t but I know his words. He said several versions of the opening words you read a moment ago. Dr. Frankl lived during the world war that came after the “war to end all wars”, the first world war. He lived a while after that too which is rare for a man imprisoned in some of Hitler’s most nefarious death camps. Frankl carried on to become a prolific psychologist and the father of logotherapy. He passed away in 1997. According to his view of human experience, one might say Frankl is still alive today.

In his writings, Dr. Frankl speaks of a concept of human experience inextricably linked to meaning. For one to be human one must have meaning and see meaning in all of their being, especially in their suffering. He saw one’s past as the true reality, finalized and perfect. He saw one’s future as the womb of possibilities. The present becomes the way to deliver your future safely into your past where your life is not lost but lives eternal. He described this as rescuing life into the past. Are you nauseous yet?

Karl Jaspers, existentialist philosopher suggested our world is a manuscript we have to decipher. Frankl says it’s a record we get to dictate. I like that better.

Rescued into the past.

And you have a say.

The ‘eternal record’ cannot be lost but likewise it cannot be corrected. That’s good news and a challenge. Frankl describes an ‘optimism of the past’ but also speaks of an ‘activism of the future.’ This is the part where we get to choose what we rescue to that eternal record.

This past week I rescued:

20 episodes of an AMC original series, Hell on Wheels. (Late night addiction)

Multiple dinners with my family.

Soccer clinic for my children.

5 solid hours working on my business rather than in it.

An exercise class at the gym with my wife.

This.

A bunch of other stuff.

I’ve done a lot of rescuing but much of it probably could have been left in the realm of an unactivated future. I’m thankful for Dr. Frankl’s words. They challenge my choices. What possibilities should be activated? Which should be rescued?

In a way I think we may be in need of some rescuing from ourselves perhaps. Not always. Just when we waiver in our resolve to rescue the worthier way.

What then shall you rescue?

Photo credit : Paradise Found