“United with his fellow-men by the strongest of all ties, the tie of a common doom, the free man finds that a new vision is with him always, shedding over every daily task the light of love. The life of Man is a long march through the night, surrounded by invisible foes, tortured by weariness and pain, towards a goal that few can hope to reach, and where none may tarry long. One by one, as they march, our comrades vanish from our sight, seized by the silent orders of omnipotent Death. Very brief is the time in which we can help them, in which their happiness or misery is decided. Be it ours to shed sunshine on their path, to lighten their sorrows by the balm of sympathy, to give them the pure joy of a never-tiring affection, to strengthen failing courage, to instil faith in hours of despair. Let us not weigh in grudging scales their merits and demerits, but let us think only of their need–of the sorrows, the difficulties, perhaps the blindnesses, that make the misery of their lives; let us remember that they are fellow-sufferers in the same darkness, actors in the same tragedy as ourselves. And so, when their day is over, when their good and their evil have become eternal by the immortality of the past, be it ours to feel that, where they suffered, where they failed, no deed of ours was the cause; but wherever a spark of the divine fire kindled in their hearts, we were ready with encouragement, with sympathy, with brave words in which high courage glowed.”

I know it’s long, but it has the same theme -life is fucked. But it holds the truth of the human condition: we can’t change some parts, but we can try to make the burdens of others lighter while we’re here. Within us is the power to help or harm, and our only obligation is help where we can and avoid harming others, where possible.

Every ethical tradition says this. Every mature religion says this. And, at rock bottom, we all know it’s true.

So, what’s fucked about life is not that it’s fucked, but that we’re so willing to let it stay that way.

I pretty much agree with everything you said there, although my jury is out on the afterlife question (I’m open to it but I see no convincing proof for either argument).

This has in a way been a slightly problematic couple of posts (see latest post for the flipside to this one) because it is easy for people to get me wrong, but I wanted to post something that made people stop and think so I guess it has worked from that perspective. I wonder if readers are getting to the end where I make my point, and even if they are getting it once I make it – i.e. getting that I am not despondant but rather I just think we need to look at the blunt realities of life square in the eye rather than bury our heads in nice fluffy pillows of New Age guff.

All I am saying is: “Life is wonderful AND fucked – so what are you gonna do about it?” I am not saying “Life is fucked – so let’s all go slash our wrists”!

Then fight against Orwellian double-speak!