We humans are either a byproduct of nothingness or our
lives are about something else. This is
the human dilemma that is beyond empirical proof. Those of us who have accepted the nothingness
of this present life form are either very courageous or very stupid. The nothingness life is simple, get all you
can while you can and at the same time console your moral sensibilities with a
few good deeds. The nothingness life may
be enough for some of us but what if life is ultimately about the something
else? Are we not looking over our shoulders,
wondering and hoping that there just may be something more to it all? Though we hope, most times the something or
someone else seems to be a foggy vapor, our future vision clouded by a
multitude of conflicting interests.
When our earthly aspirations come up short, when our
expectations are crushed, when we prove to be our own worst enemy, even when we
stubble onto a sweet spot in life, changing circumstances will return us to the
dilemma of meaninglessness. Despite the progress of modern man to pull back the
celestial curtain, we humans stuff our dilemma into a comfort coping cubbyhole,
a cubbyhole with a prescribed group think, be it money, success, relationships,
religion, politics, good works, the many varieties of excess or an approved
ancient text. Through history we have
devised almost as many cubbyholes as there are those of us willing to think on
these things. Philosophers, theologians,
writers, scholars and the scientific communities have debated and written a
plethora of volumes, each claiming to have a semblance of understanding.
Each of these thinkers may have something to say to us
but none has a verifiable solution for our dilemma of meaning. To the atheist we could ask, how does it feel
to be a byproduct of nothingness? To the
agnostic, we could ask, where did your remote creative force go? To those of us with a religious definition of
the someone else, we could ask, where is your evidence except ultimate faith? To those of us who champion an inherent human
spiritual goodness, we could ask, why is this dynamic a vestigial appendage in
so much of humankind? There is no widely
accepted fix for the dilemma of meaning and most of the world lives without the
hope for a meaningful hereafter. When it
is our turn to die, what will each of us discover to be the eternal fix, if
anything?
This is not an exclusively religious question but a universal
human question we all confront, either directly or passively. As young people, we take our chances but
sooner or later the dilemma of meaning looms larger and larger. The nothingness dilemma is ours to take to the
grave while we search for answers in this life. All we humans have this searching imperative, we want to know, all of
us, regardless of age, sex, race, religion or national origin. Will we experience illumination or black
nothingness? Will we experience a
Utopian bliss or eternal hell fire? Do we
get to choose? What are the qualifications
for eternity? Are there
qualifications?
The cubbyhole voices are out there advocating for their
own understanding of what life is about but who shall we trust into the grave? Where is the truth? Who knows the truth? Are we merely to be satisfied with making a
small contribution to the flow of humanity?
These are just a few of the questions that bug some of us and to those
of us who are profoundly sure of the future, cubbyholes and all, we envy
you.
G.Goslaw
G.Goslaw
