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What Makes a Meaningful Life? - Summary of the St. Paul, MN Lyceum 9/18/22


Lyceum is a hit! We packed the house and had an invigorating conversation on Self-Transcendence and Moving Beyond Ego: "What Makes a Meaningful Life?" It was the first Lyceum in our community in over a century, and now we're all looking forward to another new one every month! Thank you to all who made it out on Sunday to St. Paul's Yoerg Brewing! Let's keep it growing.


Here's a quick summary of what we covered under this rich and multi-faceted topic:

  • Reverend Byron Hagan discussed the roots of the idea of transcendence, outlining its history in philosophy up to our disillusioned but full-of-possibility present day.

  • Dorothy Nins illuminated the importance of acknowledging that everyone is in recovery from something, is on a journey of discovery, has wisdom to share, and can do something of value for our communities.

  • I explored the dynamic of the Soul's transcendence of the ego, especially how that can play out on a communal level, as we work to address our modern crisis of belonging by reigniting a village mentality.

Then we broke out into small groups where each person got to share from their own perspective. In the group I was in, we got personal, with multiple people speaking vulnerably about current life struggles in which they're trying to find meaning. I was humbled yet again by the generosity of the human spirit - complete strangers confiding in and supporting each other. What a gift to witness!


I think we all agreed that we humans are animated by helping each other hold such struggles, as well as helping hold the hope and beauty that gets us through. And I think we all agreed that there are no once-and-for-all answers in the never-ending quest for meaning. We're always growing, and growing together.

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