Name: Life Worth Living
Rating: 4.3 (356 reviews)
Author: Miroslav Volf, Matthew Croasmun and Ryan McAnnally-Linz

What’s in it for me? Discover some of the best answers to life’s biggest questions.

When you think about “the good life,” what springs to mind? Does the phrase conjure up images of yachts, exclusive restaurants, designer clothes, champagne on ice and endless days of sun-soaked leisure? Somewhere along the way, we’ve come to equate the good life with that of the moneyed high life, and this might be a problem. While there’s nothing wrong with enjoying the comforts that money can buy, are these the things we should be striving for in life?

In the sections that follow we’ll try to get at what the authors call “the Question.” Part of that question is, What’s really worth wanting? What should we hope for? And, how should we live? That’s right. We’ll be getting into some heady philosophical territory in this Blink. So, if you’re ready, let’s dive in.

The Question with Many Answers

If you’re reading or listening to these words, there’s a good chance you’re alive. We can all agree on that, right? But what does it mean to be alive? What responsibilities, if any, does this gift come with? Here we begin to find ourselves at a point of divergence, for there are many schools of thought on what it means to live a good and ethically sound life.

Whether or not we have responsibilities as human beings is part of what the authors call “the Question.” Really, the Question is made up of many different, interconnected questions, such as: What matters most? What does a flourishing life look like? And, who do we answer to?

Before we dig into the philosophical and theological ideas behind the Question, let’s look at the process we’ll be taking along the way. We can start by considering one of the biggest parts of the Question: What is worth wanting?

You can think of the process as something akin to a deep-sea dive. You want to go down, past the realm of automatic, reflexive action, and proceed through self-reflection in order to reach self-transcendence. Here, we can determine what you see when you think of a full and flourishing life. Remember, we’re not asking, “What do I want?” But rather, “What is worth wanting.” What would make life fulfilling and meaningful to you?

Now, as with any deep-sea dive, once you discover what is truly worth wanting you have to come back to the surface. Back to action. This is important because the point is to live a life that reflects this understanding. Sure, you might be able to tell people what’s important to you, but do your actions support your words?

Before we move on, let’s look at one more fundamental part of the Question: Who are we responsible to? To frame it another way, you might ask yourself: Are my actions subject to judgment?

This is an essential question because it will help you to spot the differences in the various philosophical and theological theories that we’ll touch upon. As you might imagine, this question can also be answered in different ways.

As a handy shortcut, the authors use the old Smokey the Bear saying, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” to highlight the three primary modes of responsibility.

First is the “only you” part. In this scenario, you are the primary agent of responsibility. But then there’s the forest, which you can think of as the sphere of your responsibility – your family, your community, the world around you. Finally, there’s old Smokey himself. He’s the authoritative figure. The rule giver and the judge. If you want to make meaningful choices in life, you’ll want to at least consider all three of these responsibilities: yourself, those around you, and the possibility of a higher power.

In the next sections we’ll start to look at some more compelling visions of the good life, and see how the great philosophical and theological minds answer the Question.

Pleasure, Pain, Freedom, and Indifference

In this section we’ll look at some of the most influential philosophies on life, like utilitarianism, Stoicism and Buddhism, as well as some other religions and a few more modern sources of wisdom.

It’s worth noting that the authors aren’t prescribing any one idea over another. Rather, they all have valuable insights that may or may not help you form your own vision of a good, meaningful, and flourishing life. You can think of it like making a recipe. It’s about finding the right ingredients that can harmonize and work together.

The Big Picture and How it All Ends

If you don’t mind my asking, how big is your forest? Remember the Smokey responsibility? Well, one important question within that is how big are you going to make your forest — or, how far are you going to extend your sphere of responsibility?

This also relates to another part of the Question: What should we hope for, and whose circumstances are we truly considering?

Living the Vision

Let’s say you’ve done your homework and you’ve come up with your own vision of the good life. You’ve identified your values and you’ve answered the Question. You know what your good and meaningful life looks like. You know what is worth wanting.

But now what? For some of us, the next part can be the most difficult part of all: putting words and ideas into action. Actually living the life you envision.

Key ideas in Life Worth Living

About the Author

Miroslav Volf is a professor of theology at Yale Divinity School, where he is also the Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. He is also the author, or co-author, of numerous books dealing with religion, faith, and compassion including The End of Memory, and the award-winning Exclusion and Embrace.

Matthew Croasmun is a lecturer at Yale College, as well as the Director of the Life Worth Living Program at the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. He is also an author, having written The Emergence of Sin, and co-written For the Life of the World with Miroslav Volf.

Ryan McAnnally-Linz is an Associate Director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. His other books include The Home of God, and Public Faith in Action, both of which he co-authored with Miroslav Volf.