nothingness

 

There are many ways in which we taste Nothingness and we will consider some of them here:

Metaphysical nothingness of non-being or of our pre-existence.

Psychological nothingness of feeling oneself to be a nobody or forgotten or utterly ignored.

Political nothingness of being subjected to less than human circumstances by decisions of the powerful decision-makers.

Being a woman in a patriarchal world.

Being a person of color in a world where white supremacy reigns.

Being a gay or trans person in a world of homophobia and heterosexism.

Being poor or homeless when possessions are the test of a human being.

          Matthew Fox, Daily Meditations 8/10/22

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nothing

the sun may grudgingly arise

breaking through the clouds for a moment of color

 

but then all becomes

50 shades of gray

 

and the light is subsumed by the darkness

 

and we are left with nothing

we feel it

we taste it

it is bitter bile in our stomachs

it is the tightness in our chests

it is a hundred TVs, all tuned to different channels

chattering in our heads

 

nothing

nothing makes sense

the poor championing those who oppress them

freedom fighters fighting against freedom

truth seekers trusting liars

 

this is a world that makes us nothing

and leaves us stumbling in the dark

reaching out for someone anyway

lashing at everyone

 

this is a world that sucks us dry and leaves our souls empty

and leaves us vulnerable

to the liars, the predators, the manipulators, the abusers

 

when we taste our nothingness

hate and fear rule us

control us

shape us

 

we react, blindly, mindlessly (or with ideologically impaired minds)

we cheer a Supreme Court that stands for nothing (other than power and wealth)

we blindly follow a narcissist

we enable (and even worship) our abusers

or we live hopelessly

believing that nothing will ever be right again

 

we are defined by nothingness

women in patriarchal darkness

people of color in the darkness of white supremacy

peacemakers in a world dominated by guns and violence

LGBTQI+++ in a world that denies their humanity

followers of Jesus in the darkness of hate-filled Churchianity

 

nothing

 

but there is something

there is a reality, a power, a Love

that overcomes the darkness

 

that same something, someone

Jesus talked about, again and again in the dwindling light

of the upper room

as the darkness encroached

and all would soon become

nothing

 

there is that Love

we can trust

trust to be with us

trust to stay with us

trust to work with us

trust to empower us

trust to help us through the darkness

 

to something

beautiful and powerful

something

hopeful

something

graceful

 

to Love

 

the world may try to make us nothing

but if we trust in love

we are quite something!

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The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it (John 1)