Perspectives

What's it all about, Alfie?

Is it just for the moment we live?

— "Alfie" by Burt Bacharach

I Googled "What is the meaning of life?" There were a little more than 38 million results (definitions, examples, cites, etc.). I thought that number exceedingly low.

The meaning of life is a challenging question. The answer, for me, doesn't simply or quickly roll off the tongue. Does it for you?

That has to be a difficult question even for a believer in a personal god (which I am not). Maybe not, however. "Existing ever after in the glory and grace of God." How's that for a speculative attempt at what a true believer might define as the meaning of life? I imagine it is something like that or a variation on that theme.

But that is not what I am after. That doesn't seem like life to me. It sounds more like being some groveling backbencher in the hosanna chorus of a jealous deity (See: Exodus 20:4). Booooring.

No, what is the meaning of life for a human being here on dear Mother Earth? I want to differentiate for the sake of this exercise between human life and all other life on the planet. I feel/think our species is the only species that has the reflective ability to consider this question. This fact, however, does not, in any way, diminish the inherent value of all life. How you want your hamburger cooked notwithstanding.

I got on to this quest (actually I've been on it all my life) because I am a speaker in search of a topic. I was reading (in Sunday's New York Times) about Kenneth Starr. You remember good ol' sheet-sniffing Ken Starr of Clinton impeachment fame? He's recently been made president of Baylor University. He was asked if America was a Christian nation.

He said, no it isn't, "because of religious freedom." Not only that, but he said you don't have to believe in God to be an ethical person. Well, you could have picked my jaw off the floor.

I'll be touching on such matters (plus the meaning of life!) on Tuesday, May 18 at 10 a.m. at the Winter Park University Club located at 841 N. Park Ave. This is open to the public and I hope you will consider attending. Plenty of convenient parking. Just walk right in and ask, "Where is that fool Jepson, speaking?"

The world is a better place because of the Winter Park University Club (in spite of its facilitating my speech. Hah-Hah!). It fosters independent thinking by providing a forum for diverse opinion. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines." The University Club of Winter Park confronts that idea head-on by fostering an environment of independent thought and tolerance. The motto for the University Club is: Intellectio Sodalitas, which translates to: Fellowship in Knowledge and Understanding.

With fellowship and sistership in mind, I encourage my more thoughtful readers to consider joining the University Club of Winter Park. For less than half the price of a Coke a day, fellowship and knowledge is yours. Join.