Telos

I’ve often thought that what motivates us is not simply about the present moment but about where it all leads. The Greek philosophers had a word for this: telos. It means the goal, the end, the purpose toward which something is moving.

Money has never been my telos. It provides comfort and security, but by itself it cannot give meaning. Without a larger purpose, money is a hollow prize.

Neither has power been my goal. Titles, positions, the machinery of influence — they fade. What remains are people. Relationships are the enduring horizon: knowing who someone is, sharing their joys and struggles, walking alongside them.

Nature points to something glorious as well. The beauty of a forest trail or the resilience of a single green shoot breaking through whispers that the world itself has a destiny or a purpose— to be healed, to be renewed, to sing again. Protecting it is a way of honouring a greater purpose.

Beauty in its many forms — a poem, a painting, a symphony, or the grace of everyday craft — also points forward. Beauty reminds us that life is not random chaos but has direction, shape, and harmony. It awakens longing for something beyond itself, something complete.

Justice sharpens that longing. Injustice screams that something is out of alignment, unfinished. Justice keeps us restless until that end is complete: a world made right, where cruelty is no more and mercy is at home.

When I think of telos, I sometimes picture a telescope. A telescope doesn’t change the stars; it simply brings them into view. It lets me glimpse what is far away, what lies ahead.

My motivations — meaning, people, nature, beauty, justice — are like lenses in that telescope. Each one sharpens the picture a little more. Through them, I catch sight of the distant horizon, the true end of things.

And when I lift the telescope to my eye, what comes into focus is God. Faithful, just, merciful, loving. The One who is both the beginning and the end, the source and the telos.

So, what motivates me? The answer is not a list of disconnected passions. It is that all of these motivations lean toward the same horizon. They are compass points, but they meet at a single centre. In God, every fragment finds its place, every story its completion, every longing its fulfilment.