Religious Conception of the Good Life

In his letter to Mrs. Kaderli, Thomas Merton writes, “[A voice inside us] It tells us to seek life, not by preserving our body, which has to die, but by seeking the growth and expansion of the deepest secret in our heart, the secret that we are loved by God and made for life, and that He dwells in us, giving us life.” This approach invokes the perspective that love of God is the reason for living, and the religious person shows an understanding that love from a higher being gives them importance and meaning. As humans often draw meaning and feelings of importance from loving relationships they share with family and friends, so do they gain meaning from feeling like they are loved by their god. The immortality of the soul is in relation to loving and being loved by God. Death, then, can be accepted from this perspective, because it unites them with the god who loves them, and a god who loves them would necessarily guarantee a wonderful experience in the afterlife.

Another letter writer held a similar view. Mrs. Kaderli’s philosophy professor Radoslav A. Tsanoff wrote to her, “Remember the great words in the Sermon on the Mount: ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.’ Unless we can take these words seriously, religion does not mean very much. But if we do take them seriously, we are bound to see that our every day’s program must be a call to aspiring activity. A person who thus lives every day the life of eternal values need not be afraid to die.” In other words, living God’s eternal reality on earth (by upholding his values) is how we achieve immortality after death.

For several writers in the Kaderli collection, then, we can see that religion provides an answer to the meaning of life, and that death plays a role in achieving that meaning. For many, a meaning to life is sought after in the realm of the infinite— that is, the desire for one’s life to culminate or result in something everlasting. In “My Confession,” Leonard Tolstoy wonders, “What real, indestructible essence will come from my phantasmal, destructible life?” In response to this desire for something eternal, many fear death as an obstacle to creating any sort of real meaning in life. Merton tells us that we need not fear physical death as long as we live and love according to God, who will grant us a truly meaningful life not defined by earthly existence. Tsanoff assures us that death is no obstacle to living a life of “eternal values,” and this mission in life is bestowed meaning through religion and God. Each writer offers a different explanation of death such that death is no longer the harbinger of destruction, but rather a stepping stone, a necessary component to realizing one’s true meaning: union with God, salvation, and paradise.

Spiritual Conception of the Good Life

Other writers in the collection, such as Olaus J. Murie, argue that a focus on lived experience is the only true consolation for death— a good life enabling but displacing the possibility of a good death: “We do know that a good life is the best that we can achieve on this earth. By a good life, we can influence our culture, our way of living” (Murie). The meaning behind this is that life is best lived well to bring meaning to our existence. By living a good life and imparting our mark on the world at large while doing so, humanity can create meaning in their lives. These types of beliefs are accessible and relatable to many people, both the orthodox and non-orthodox alike. They draw on continuations of lived experiences, experiences that many have or aspire towards. A lot of these experiences make up what one considers “a good life,” and we desire for these experiences to endure in some way past our own deaths. [For a discussion of similar themes, see section Immortality— Spiritual Immortality]