On Nihilism

I’ve been meaning to put in a solid effort on an idea about how a solution to nihilism because what I see in my life is people being trapped into this state of mind that I certainly once had.

Nihilism, the belief that life is meaningless. The idea that there is no truth, and nothing to believe in. Or rather is being nihilistic simply the action of throwing in the towel on your pursuit to truth. A son of David in Jerusalem had already figured out that there is no meaning in mortal life. “Utterly meaningless, everything is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). After you start seeking answers in life you only find more questions. Only to find you are simply chasing after the wind, destined to never matter or be remembered. What is more is the agony found upon your search. Now labored and exhausted, but for what purpose? To what end? “A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). 

The first chapter of Ecclesiastes describes life as a never ending hunt in which ultimately proves itself as a waste of effort and time. The proof to this claim lies in the foundational argument based on a lack of fulfillment available to us. Being that you work throughout your entire life for nothing in the world to change. This is a fact of life. “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full” (Ecclesiastes 1:7). What could be made of our tedious labors on this earth? An exercise of madness & insanity. Here lies the pit of man we know as nihilism. Where the recognition of impossibilities come to overwhelm and control the one in search of truth or meaning. As you search you find knowledge and gain wisdom, only to sadden your own heart. “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.” (Ecclesiastes 1:18).

In this concept we can find acceptance that nihilists are simply weak and scared of pain. If they forfeit their search and give in to the nothingness, the darkness wins. This is not to imply that we are in an active struggle as the light against the darkness but rather speaking of which entity takes ownership of your heart. Nihilism evolves inside as the only way to revert the growing darkness of yourself into a recluse that becomes completely separate from your light, almost as if the orientation of becoming a nihilist is the survival instinct of the light, preserving itself for the future as there is a time for everything. This is their way to produce personal liberty. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). 

We may ask ourselves then what sort of future belongs to someone without a care for the world. What I can offer to you is another perspective. This view offers up the distinction that those in these positions are most ready and capable of achieving the higher meaning they once thought was possible. What else could Jesus have meant by “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him” (1 John 2:15). Where will this path lead?

This path here is where you can find yourself most suited for God. Already willing to abandon everything for nothing. Then you can find yourself on an adventure. With God you begin to recognize the magic in everything, including yourself. If you can imagine a world where fundamentally, you have superpowers. The amount of joy that is produced from actualizing your capabilities is simply impossible to describe. Nothing is empty anymore. So “do not conform to the pattern of this, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2).