The Crossroads Between Being and Nothingness.
Simone Riva - Today's gift—a day dedicated to commemorating the dead—is to remind us of what we are: a heart at the crossroads between meaning and meaninglessness.
"We started by saying something serious, the most serious thing that can be said: whether this time, the passing hour, the day we mark on the calendar, has meaning or not, whether it has a positive permanence or not; not a generic positive permanence, but for us, because what is not for me is as if it did not exist: once I am gone, the rest is no longer a problem, it no longer matters. The self, our self, is the crossroads between being and nothingness, between good and evil, where the mercy and omnipotence of the Mystery are made fully evident. The serious question, therefore, is whether existence ends in the dust of passing time and its passing is nothing more than the construction of a tomb or a prison where we would suffocate—and die, uselessly!—or whether time is pregnant with the future: the weight of eternity hangs over every moment." (Luigi Giussani, Attraverso la compagnia dei credenti, Milan, BUR, 2021, p. 19)
Ultimately, the question of life comes down to this, and we know it well. Even in our constant agitation, talking, arguing, fighting, building, and destroying, there is a kind of background note that prevents us from completely dismissing the “most serious thing that can be said.”
The day on which the Church commemorates all those who have already entered into the definitive embrace of the Trinity is an opportunity to verify once again, as happens every day, what kind of life our own is filled with.
Yes, because while we share the condition of being alive, we also know that this condition is not automatically full of meaning, to the point that we may even consider it a condemnation when challenges arise or circumstances do not follow our plan.
This situation often leads to a desperate attempt to produce the meaning of things ourselves, as if reality were an empty container that we could fill as we pleased. Attempt after attempt, we begin a life where there is no longer any place for Someone to answer to, and this can happen even to those who are immersed up to their necks in “the things of God,” as Jesus drastically reveals:
"When the master of the house gets up and closes the door, you who are left outside will begin to knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us!’ But he will answer, ‘I don't know where you are from.’ Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ But he will declare to you, ‘I don't know where you are from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity!’" (Lk 13:25-27)
Among the “alerts” we can observe to unmask this trap is our relationship with sleep, a strange daily interlude similar to death that forces us to come to terms with the need to entrust ourselves. In conversations with young people in recent years, it has become increasingly clear that they struggle to fall asleep at night, and not always because of electronic devices, which are often the last lights to be turned off.
One of them recently told me: “I have trouble falling asleep because in the evening, in the silence of my bed, I am afraid to be with myself." What a blessing to be able to notice this vertigo, the only one that allows us to recognize Who is always in relationship with us, and enjoys it, having placed in our self the crossroads between being and nothingness.
So we are forced to ask ourselves:
“What is the position of our life, the overall position of our life? Not just theoretically—because theoretically we say, ‘I believe’; at some point in time, on some particular occasion, we even say it with a certain emphasis, with a certain arsis in our voice—but normally." (Luigi Giussani, Attraverso la compagnia dei credenti, p. 19)
As the days go by, as things happen, as we grow up, what is happening within us? What are we discovering? What human traits are blossoming? Conquering life by living it remains, therefore, the challenge. How?
Fr. Giussani helps us again:
"The truth of a thing is given by the totality of its components. What you are experiencing is an aspect of the kingdom of God and is a service you are doing for Christ. First of all—keep this in mind—it changes the state of mind with which you do the task, the awareness—better yet—that you have of it, and by changing your awareness of it, it makes you more attentive, more honorable, more faithful, more tenacious, more supportive, and at the same time, more free; that is, it makes you more human in that task. The connection between our needs and the encounter has, in fact, this result: that you are a hundred times more human in your needs.” (Luigi Giussani, L’incontro che accende la speranza, 2025, LEV, p. 118) because “what is not for me is as if it did not exist.”
Unrevisded text and translation by the author.
