Nihilism

Nihilism frightens me more than the prospect of falling off the ice cliff today that I crossed on my hands and knees. That was pretty.

I'm not anxious about atheism. I do find crusading atheism as annoying as any crusading belief, especially when there is so much certainty. Humility and mystery are helpful when trying to imagine the complexity of existence and meaning.

I've had some lovely conversations talking about what gods we don't believe in and what stories give coherence and meaning to our lives. I'm not in charge of saving people, just loving them.

I'm personally invested in the story of Jesus who healed, loved, forgave and fed; he died and left the tomb empty so we may trust love is not defeated even in death. There are nuances, but that's the basic story of my faith and I concur with Dostoevsky when he wrote

 “If someone proved to me that Christ is outside the truth and that in reality the truth were outside of Christ, then I should prefer to remain with Christ rather than with the truth.”

Nihilism frightens me because I see more folks embracing this negation of value, meaning or truth in life. There is no coherent narrative so no truth or action is preferable to another; utter destruction tends to be the mode of operating since nothing matters. Everything is fake.

Albert Camus (1913-1960 existentialist writer who defined himself as not believing in God, but not an atheist) was terrified of nihilism and wrote, "Nihilism is not only despair and negation, but, above all, the desire to despair and to negate.” 

Keep your ears open for this creeping nihilism. I do find it is one of those places where I have to plant my feet squarely and say I do not agree. There is value, truth, and meaning in life and in love. I'm not overly worried if we disagree on how we define god, but I get anxious when all existence is negated as meaningless.

And these were my calming thoughts as I crawled across the ice. It could be worse.