Soul Mx - What is Your Purpose?

This is part of a series shared ecumenically with members to whom I was assigned; the goal was to start conversation and deep thought, and many of these messages led to great conversations.

What is Your Purpose?
Original Publication Date: 9 September 2020

If there is one good thing about uncertainty in our lives and routines it is that upheaval gives us an opportunity to look at who we are, where we have come from, and where we are going. Are we fulfilling our purpose? If our purpose can be defeated by uncertainty, is it a big enough purpose? Do I even have a purpose? If you’ve heard me speak for any length of time you’ve heard me say,

“Your purpose needs to be outside of the Air Force, the Air Force can survive without you, you need to be able to survive without the Air Force.”

The reason your purpose should be bigger than the Air Force is because you will most likely live a long life after your service ends. If your purpose is in your job then a single debilitating injury that leads to a medical retirement will not only end your career, but your purpose as well! A major downsizing of the military could have the same effect. Or, many of us know of a Chief or Colonel who died six months after retirement, because when they hung up the uniform, they hung up their purpose.

But we have to be careful as well that our purpose is not so far outside of the Air Force that we aren’t any good to the nation or our fellow Airmen. Some examples would be those who are ALWAYS out taking classes or volunteering or at a second job. Don’t get me wrong, I love classes, and volunteering, but if the Air Force is a hindrance to your purpose or merely funding your purpose, I want to recommend you reevaluate what you’re on this planet for.

I love being in Air Force Global Strike Command for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is the clarity of purpose in one of our past mottos (when we were SAC): “Peace is Our Profession.” This motto captured a purpose that had fulfillment both inside and outside the Air Force: the idea that the reason for many Airmen’s existence was to prevent wars or win wars so completely that peace reigned in their lifetime. Many Airmen from the days of that motto will tell you that the Cold War didn’t just end, it was won, and their efforts were the direct catalyst that no significant amount of blood was shed between Soviets and Americans.

This message is not meant to tell you where to find your purpose, only to encourage you to look outside of yourself and your job for meaning in your life. There has been debate for a long time on where to find purpose. A famous painting by Raphael called The School of Athens captures this debate, it depicts Plato pointing heavenwards for purpose, and Aristotle pointing earthwards. There are generally five places people find purpose:

1. In a Deity
2. In the Improvement of the Soul
3. In Pragmatics (what works for you)
4. In Quantifiable Achievements
5. In Acknowledging the Transient Nature of Everything

As your chaplain, I would love to help you search for and find your purpose: a purpose that will benefit you for the rest of your life, and that will benefit the Air Force for as long as you serve. Regardless of where you find your purpose, take some time during this uncertainty to evaluate where you have come from, where you are, and where you are going.

In closing, the United States Space Force recently posted a recruitment video with a pithy statement, “Maybe Your Purpose on This Planet is Not on This Planet.” Do you think Plato or Aristotle would agree with that more?