Book Review: Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl

Thanks for sharing this Ptr. Len. "The Salvation of man is through love and in love..." I love that. Haven't read the book but I must find myself a copy soon here in Vietnam! Please thank Veejay for writing this.
Blessings...

I finally found a reflective blog site by someone I know. That means somebody I can relate with has found that call and courage to process experiences and knowledge through i9n my own diet. For that God bless you. I thank God too. With a measure of confidence, I say God bless the Philippinesa too.

"....that he made the realization that "the salvation of man is through love and in love."

Bitin po. Hanging. Love can be a many splendored thing.

Specifically may I ask, did Frankl find JESUS?

Hello po Tito Max. :) Frankl is a Jew. Hindi po siya Christian. But for him to make such a stunning realization at such an awful time in history -- and the fact that he wasn't even a Christian -- says a lot about how very important Christ's role is in our lives (to both Christians and non-Christians). God loved us all so much that that alone was our redemption... through Christ Jesus. These are just my thoughts hehe. :)

Thank you for your prompt reply, Veejay.

One need not be in a concentration camp to realize what the act of loving can do. The Jews have a basically legalistic culture. If you will check with a Jew, a Jew is one born of a Jewish mother. We had a church member then who has a Jewish name and a Jewish father. But he had less privileges compared to a "real" Jew. The Samaritan helped the holdap victim but not the Jews passing by. So to them, a lot terrorism was perhaps required to find that the act of loving gives meaning.

I say one needs not be in a concentration camp. I go the the ultra -poor in Visayas and Mindanao. Bacolod, Bohol, Dumaguete, Gensan and Koronadal. Poverty makes one cry realizing that the problem is so huge that we can do only a little spark here and there against a covering darkness.

Many great renowned men wished that man should have love in their hearts, great men i need not mention. Songs cry about the need for love because of the realization that it IS in the line that gives meaning to life.

But many stop at the level of LOVE. My point is someone must upgrade them to the level of Jesus, His name. And nobody, and nobody but Him.

Otherwise, love can be redirected to other identities which also claim the word Love.

Di ba? Kaya yun Veejay, ay naitatanong ko lang. Was it essential? I think it is crucial. Very crucial. Crucial not on salvation, per se. But on rewards.

I appreciate your thoughts. God want us to think. He gave us our minds. Let us use them to help others as well.

Everybody's talking about LOVE - a concept. That is why definitions of the word abound; and manifestations, too. Now we can all live with the variety, the commonalities, as well as the differences in all our individual takes on the concept of love, from the most myopic to the most wide-ranging.

The problem begins when somebody like Max proposes that everybody stops at the level of LOVE (in connection with the main subject, MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING)when everybody should go for the upgrade, that is, proceed further to the level of Jesus. Is Jesus a concept that that Jesus concept is a grade higher that the concept of love? I do believe this is not what Max means to say.

Perhaps he means that with all the LOVE definitions available to us, the Jesus definition of love is the best.I salute Max for loving his own (I can safely guess he is a Christian)No argument with that.

However, as Christians, have we really in all good conscience given the other religions' concept of love some consideration, compared these with ours, and have not found our concept ( Jesus')wanting? Take, for example, the Jainian concept, for starters.

The Golden Rule may be presented by us as a basic and foundational Christian tenet. As long as we are unaware of the fact that the same was propounded in many other religions that predate Christianity and Judaism should open our curious minds. Yes, our religion conceived of this tenet (and it goes with our God) centuries
after the Sumerians learned to mix glue.

History and archaelogical finds show us that the biblical garden of Eden (Creation)came to be a thousand years after the Mesopotamians learned to brew beer. Why is that?

Hmmmmnnnn . . . . maybe, there are a few things we were never told. Shades of the good ol' Nick tale, I surmise.Max is right. God, he said, gave us minds to use correctly. While God is a premise we all make, our minds are for real. Let us begin using it. As Isaac Watts said, "The ability to reason is a God-given treasure."

Hi Reggie. Glad to have met you a few weeks back in Bacolod. Thanks for your comments. May I introduce you to "Max." He is Mr. Max Fabricante. While Veejay is my daughter who made a book review of the book by Frankl.

Thank you all for your thoughts and comments.

Thanks Reggie,

It is not that I propose everybody stops at a certain level and they must upgrade, to wit;

"Many great renowned men wished that man should have love in their hearts, great men i need not mention. Songs cry about the need for love because of the realization that it IS in the line that gives meaning to life. But many stop at the level of LOVE. My point is someone must upgrade them to the level of Jesus, His name."

Putting that aside, I donot judge concepts of love by how long they have been going around. Adam and Eve had their concept of love. What does other concepts promise? Do they promise anything comparable to the promise of Jesus?

After Frankl discovered his concept of the meaning of life, what has he done thereafter?

I am interested to know.