And the question drives us to a confidence in the meaning of daily living. What we do, no matter how trivial, ordinary or regular, actually has meaning. Christians down through the centuries have been criticized, and particularly in this century, for this. The Marxist and Freudian criticism of Christianity was that it was pie in the sky, that it spiritualized everything, that it wasn't real. But truly religious people know that having a center of belief and faith actually elevates everything we do.
Nothing is any longer too small to be important.
And this question drives us, if we stay with it, to an assurance and a real hope about the future. A sure sign that faith has not developed or has been lost is when people no longer think they have a future, that it no longer matters what they do in the present, because the future does not count. And this question, I believe, in the end, drives us all to love. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Every Synagogue liturgy still opens with it.