Is Paris Burning?

During World War II, Viktor Frankl, who was imprisoned in a Nazi concentration camp, wrote about the following case in his book published after the war, "Man's Search for Meaning" (originally titled 'Night and Fog').

I think it is a truly cruel episode.

The truth that humans survive while they have hope, and die when they lose it pierces my heart.

Even if not in such extreme situations, we tend to try to overcome daily hardships with short-term hope in our daily lives.

For example,
'If I just endure and work for two more days, it's the weekend,'
or,
'Once this exam is over, I'll be free from studying.'

And so, when the weekend actually arrives, and eventually the exam ends, unlike in the concentration camp, we can obtain a fleeting moment of freedom.

However, the fun weekend passes in the blink of an eye, the days of being chased by work begin, and the schedule for another exam approaches.

short-term hope People who live relying on this, even if they don't die every time they lose hope, end up living a life of repeating this endlessly.

Literally, there is no end to it.

It is said that those who were still able to survive in the concentration camps were able to believe not in 'short-term hope given by others' but in 'unwavering hope and possibilities for the future.'

Then, what on earth does unwavering hope and possibilities for the future mean?

The 19th-century philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, in 'The Sickness Unto Death,' The Sickness Unto Death, stated that the sickness unto death is despair, and cites Christian faith as a way to deal with this sickness.

He argues that abandoning the self before God is faith, which leads to recovery from the sickness—that one can survive from despair.

My former doctor was a devout Christian.
Before he retired, during my last visit, I plucked up the courage to ask him,

'Doctor, how did you come to convert?'

I have had a connection with God and faith since I was a child, and I have always thought about it in my own way.

However, being stubborn and filled with skepticism, I could never just simply believe, and to this day, I have not been able to join any religion.

Even though I can intellectually understand Jesus Christ, Allah, Buddha, and Amitabha Buddha, I cannot blindly believe in them.

Therefore, it has been a long-standing question for me.

The elderly doctor spoke calmly with a faint smile on his face.

“When I was twenty, I went through something very painful.
I have never experienced anything like that before or since.
It was the greatest hardship of my life.
At that time, God saved me.
……That is all I can say.
So, it really feels like… it was just very natural.”

I see.
I honestly thought that must be what it is.
I don't understand it at all, but at the same time, I understand it very well.

It is not about logic.
It is a leap.
Don't argue, just dive in.

……Though, I don't think I could do it.

In recent years, I have begun receiving counseling specializing in trauma treatment, and I have finally realized something.

That is,there is no miracle drug that can make past or present unbearable suffering disappear in an instant.
No such magical medicine (including psychotherapy) exists anywhere you look.

……When I reached this conclusion, which offers so little salvation, I felt an urge to abandon counseling halfway through.

Perhaps until then, somewhere in my heart, I had been seeking one-sided salvation from a counselor (another person).

I wondered if a medical professional (another person) could remove my inner suffering just as they would pain in my limbs or stomach, using, for example, medicine or something else to save me.

Of course, people can only live within relationships with others.
That is true, but as long as you rely on others, you will never lead to recovery.

If you wish to live your life proactively, it will not happen if you rely on someone else, expect them to do something for you, or wait for things to be given to you by others.

Therefore, we have no choice but to acknowledge and accept our circumstances, including our origins, our current environment, and our innate nature, and continue to choose our lives proactively.

On top of that, we must not be arrogant enough to think we can control everything, but rather have the resolve to entrust and let go of everything to God (this could be a religious God, or it could be something else—a presence beyond yourself).

In reality, the areas we can control are surprisingly few.
Even our own bodies and minds do not always do as we wish.

In "Man's Search for Meaning," Frankl writes impressively about the day of liberation.

A Jewish man who survived the concentration camp is walking while trampling on a field of wheat.
When rebuked for this, the man did not show any sign of apology; instead, he became defiant.

Anyone can understand the feeling of wanting to say that.
What is a little bit of revenge, anyway!

Harsh experiences can sometimes become an excuse for self-indulgence or a get-out-of-jail-free card.
It may even distance us from criticism by others or dialogue with others.

However, the cycle of resentment produces nothing.
That is clear if you look at the case of Israel.

For better or worse, we already know this.