The Existential and Reality

"Please, if there's anybody out there will you meet my needs. Please, it's a generation that's bleeding and we're on our knees." (Scarecrow and the Tinmen). (Omahensis, you can correct me if the lyrics are wrong. I'm relatively sure that's what I'm hearing though.)

Part of living life is engaging existential struggle. Existential struggle can be many different things, this song highlights the difficulties that people have in relating to others. As soon as we understand that we are selves who interact with the world, then we see a need to interact with others. However, on interaction, we learn that there are people who have different talents or gifts than us that seem desirable. Other people also do not have certain problems and seem to have a better reality then we do, because they can seem to have more stability, or less issues to deal with, etc. Whenever we see these differences, it becomes quite easy to fall into the temptation to self-hatred. The first part of the examination of the refrain is simply seeing if someone will love the main singer, even if the singer doesn't have every gift that every person has in order to be perfect. Self-hatred hinders us from being able to love and be loved because we don't feel worthy of love, and we might lash out at others because we may deem them unworthy of love as well. Part 1 of the song is someone wanting a deep friend to love and treat them like a person. The challenge for us, is how do we meet this existential need for those around us? Part of our responsibility in loving our neighbor is to understand this need and desire of each person, and do our part to meet other's needs.

Part 2 of the refrain is really interesting because it brings a communal dimension to the existential longing. The communal existential longing stems from the individual longing as something in common to all people, but it's also expressing a different response. The community seeks something better in common. Communities of people also experience pain. When people share suffering with each other it hurts, but the shared hurt makes pain easier to engage, so while the community bleeds, the community also experiences deep healing. Part of the healing of the community can come from worship and engaging God and neighbor. The community can also share gifts and talents with each other, so when one person does not feel like they have enough of a certain gift, it can be shared with a community in love.

Individuals and community long for the ability to love and share openly with each other, gifts which create a whole. Everyone wants wholeness, especially because it is so easy to see the brokenness. Brokenness is apparent when we hear of crimes on TV, when we seeing our crying neighbor, and when we see the suffering of the other. It's hard to see wholeness, because there are no appearances of complete wholeness, outside of mystical encounters with God. All of our other experiences with God are mediated through symbols, and thus, only show us an image of God, leaving us to intellectually and emotionally engage the wholeness of God in an image. These sidebars are to introduce the idea that we see brokenness more readily than we see wholeness no matter with whom we relate. Therefore, we have to search for wholeness, in ourselves, in our communities, and in our relationship with God. However, how we find that wholeness, is part of the existential journey of life. The only thing I can really say is that a life shared with others helps everyone find wholeness, but we have to have the appropriate skills in order to be vulnerable responsibly. Like every muscle, vulnerability is something we have to exercise with people, communities, and God in order to become good at being vulnerable to serve the community and God and avoid vulnerability which is self-seeking.

In the end, all will be as God sees. God sees wholeness in our broken parts because God sees love in all things. In order to heal the existential longing, we should live our lives to others in order to find that wholeness and love. "Please, if there's anybody out there, will you meet my needs, Please, it's a generation that's bleeding and we're on our knees." We long for wholeness and healing from our existential trauma, and we pray that we can be loved even in the midst of our own existential trauma. Love in our existential state, must take into account these trials, individual and communal, and love the other in spite of and because of our trials, and this includes meeting the needs of others, ourselves, and the community. When we see the brokenness of others, we can begin to see the wholeness of the whole community and begin to find some purpose to our own existential trauma. When we see glimpses of wholeness, then we as a community of people can love like God loves. Please God may it be so.

Aristocrates