Thursday, September 19, 2019

Smiling in despair

For some time now I have been an avid follower of Humans of New York, an online introduction to people around the world, through the photojournalism of Brandon Stanton. Entries (you can find them on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) usually consist of a photo and a paragraph or two in the subject’s own words about themselves or their life. A few of the stories encompass three or even four episodes. It has been amazing, sometimes exalting, other times gripping, even distressing. (Stanton created a Patreon account so that people can send regular donations that allow HONY at times to provide desperately needed material or educational goods.) Most of the time it is heart-warming. 
Today was more heart-warning.
HONY has been in Amsterdam lately, and this week we “met” an older gentleman who seems to find life basically meaningless. 

As you can see from the write-up, he didn’t seem to mention any relationships at all, unless you count the chairs he dropped off for refinishing. He sees his life in decline, and, living as he does in a society that legalized euthanasia twenty years ago, sees a solution for the meaninglessness of existence in giving everyone a kill pill to take at age 60 or so. (Excuse me!!!!)
What an empty existence his comments reflect. I don't think I've ever used the phrase "existential despair" in this blog (correct me if I'm wrong), but here it is, with a smiling face and a cup of coffee.
But it’s not life that is meaningless: it is this lifestyle. He still seems to have health, but nothing worthwhile to do with it (he's right that the chairs don't count). He seems to be without any reference point outside of himself. And that is meaningless. 
My first reaction to this post was precisely the thought that he must not have anyone to love, or anyone who loves him, because if you love, you want to live for the beloved, right? To do things that make them smile, or at least give them what comfort is possible...to find your joy in their joy at being loved. To live for and with them, simply because to love is a good in itself.
Blessed James Alberione used to say, “Preaching the Gospel is an immense act of charity.” It  reveals even to people who may find themselves unloved in human society that they are known and infinitely loved. It opens the horizons of this world, a world that may not offer everyone the feeling of being loved or needed, the truth that love is the origin, goal and meaning of life. And it constantly challenges the preacher to make sure that he or she is actually representing the love of God in a concrete way and not only in empty words.
If there really is no one in all of Amsterdam who knows and loves this person, it would still do him much good to “go, sell what you have, and give” the rest of his life to using his expertise (whatever it may be) in a part of the world where his skills and knowledge are needed and appreciated; where he could again feel himself to be a contributor to society instead of just a retired, bored gadfly. He could die feeling that he was a person again, instead of a hunk of vegetative matter waiting to nourish the soil. Because the meaning of life is love. And the fundamental quality of love is the “freedom of the gift” of self.
I spent a good part of my prayer time holding this man up to Jesus, along with the many commenters who agreed with his assessment of life. There's a plea in there for the new evangelization, but it has to be really new: so alive, such a bearer of life that it cannot be ignored but must be dealt with (even if that means nailing it to the nearest cross). Because in one way, the man is right, as the youthful Jacques and Raissa Maritain intuited: a meaningless life is not worth living. They began to discover the meaning of life through a novel by Leon Bloy. Now, 100 years later, what might be some ways to help awaken dulled hearts to the meaningfulness of existence?

1 comment:

Sister Anne said...

Just to clarify: I don't mean to imply that this man is in any way at fault here: Rather, his point of view (shared by a frightening number of commenters on Instagram and Facebook) seems to be representative of the generation brought up after the devastation of World War II delivered the final coup de grace, severing Europe from its Christian culture. He is, as it were, the spokesperson for this first post-Christian European culture. Is it any surprise that he sounds just like a prosperous first-century Roman philosopher?