Man’s search for meaning is not a book, at least in my experience, that one can read in a sitting as a narration of an event that took place in the past. I had to pause on many occasions to reflect on the magnitude of the events taking place at the concentration camp. At times I cried with the prisoners as I imagined their torture. Many times I had to consider my own life and some of the challenges I have encountered and realize that they all served a purpose. As I read through the pages, I realized that I had been asking the wrong questions about my life. Everything in life happens for a reason; even suffering can define our destiny.  Indeed Christ identified His destiny as dying for man kind and found meaning in it.  The only thing that we truly own and are master of is our will.  Anything else can be taken away or restored but once we lose our will to live we lose everything.

Frankl describes the experiences the prisoners had to go through on entering camp. The prisoner has three illusions. The first was the realization that things were very bad; the second that they had nothing to lose but their body and the third was the curiosity of what would happen next. The conclusion is that an abnormal reaction in an abnormal situation is a normal reaction.  This can be related to the story of Job in the Bible. Job was tested beyond what most men can endure yet in it he found meaning. When he lost his wealth and children he said “naked I came from my mothers’ womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord”. Job 1:21. Job put everything in perspective and was able to face his loss with courage and dignity.

The second stage of prison life is that of apathy. The prisoner’s emotions became blurred and he developed a lack of care for what was going on around him.  Frankl observed that people who had a rich intellectual life may have suffered much pain but the damage to their inner selves was less. These people were able to retreat from their terrible surrounding to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom. This is a truth that a Christian can identify with. Paul writing to the church in Corinth puts it this way, “even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction which is for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” 11 Corinthians 4:16-18.  When life brings suffering one should ask life what it wants with you. Frankl suggests that it is your responsibility to find the meaning for your suffering.

The realty of love for man’s survival is addressed in a way that makes one realize that ultimately love never fails.  Frankl describes how at times to endure the pain of his existence he would reflect on the love of his wife and would sense her presence.  He reminds us that there is always someone worth suffering for or enduring the suffering for.  This could be your wife, a friend a child or even God. In the end he comes to the realization that “love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire”. It is because of love that Christ gave His life as a ransom for our sins. “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” 1John3:16. 

Frankl avers that if one considered prison life as a test of inner strength it became an opportunity to grow spiritually. Instead of focusing on the outward one is encouraged to look inward and realize that you have more power than you think. As long as you are alive there is hope for tomorrow and “what does not kill you makes you strong”.  To encourage one to live, one must first give the person a reason for living. This introduces the element of faith. The Bible defines faith “as the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen” Hebrews11:1. Paul in his epistle to the Romans says “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us—if we eagerly hope for what we do not see we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.” Romans 8:18, 25. If you lose hope for the future, you stop growing spiritually which can lead to mental and physical decay.

                  Frankl suggests that there are only two races of people; the decent and indecent. There were guards from the Gestapo who were kind to the prisoners and others who were brutal. On the other hand there were wardens who were prisoners and some were just as brutal as the Gestapo while others were kind.  To Frankl, this was evidence that there is no perfect race and in each race what separates people is their relationship with other humans. This agrees with the view that ism exists in every race and it is never right no matter who is practicing it. God is not a respecter of persons for “there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Galatians 3:28 

                An interesting phenomenal that Frankl discusses is that of the released prisoners’ moral and spiritual health. He showed how those with a nature that was of a primitive kind “could not escape the influences of the brutality that surrounded them in camp life”. These were the people who used their freedom to terrorize others, justifying it with what had been meted to them while in prison camp. This perhaps explains why abusers are people who have been victims of abuse.   Such people have to relearn or be guided to the truth that no one has the right to do wrong, not even if wrong has been done to them.  To be able to get to the state of peace one has to deal with disillusionment and bitterness. This is all part of the healing process as you relive the difficult moments.

               When you come o the realization that you survived in a situation that destroyed many, the ultimate truth hits you, that there is nothing in life worth fearing, than God. Jesus warned us not to be “afraid of those who kill the body, but after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!” Luke 12:4-5