Those Who Have Not Seen the Light, and Those Who Eat the Word

Between Emptiness and Eternity

Soyo's Existence Ethics (Existence itself is ethics)

Between Nothingness and Eternity

On the Suffering, Recovery, and Calling of Human Existence as Seen Through Hemingway and Solomon

Humans are not born without suffering. From the moment we are born, we bear the wounds of time, and throughout our lives, we strive to interpret those wounds. Through this suffering, we come to question who we are and what we should believe in to live. At this point, the lives of the two men diverged: one was a philosophy that could not pierce the darkness, while the other was a confession kneeling before the light.

Hemingway, The One Who Could Not See the Light at the End of Suffering

The nihilistic Hemingway never lived a smooth life. He experienced countless despair and divisions on the battlefield, within his family, and within himself. His ideology was not merely a literary form but a reflection of the deep pain of the times and environment. He deeply understood the depth of human suffering. However, he could not believe in the light that emerged after passing through the “dark tunnel.” In the end, he could not find recovery in life from God. He could describe suffering, but he could not embrace the truth that transcends suffering.

The suffering that wells up from within human beings is a realm of the soul that only those who have experienced it can know, and to escape from that depth, one needs not only mental strength but also a philosophy to live by, that is, a belief in existence.

Solomon, Who Had Everything, But Abandoned God

Solomon's life began at the pinnacle of human achievement. Wisdom, wealth, power, love—there was nothing he did not possess. Yet in his final years, he confessed, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.” This is not merely philosophical nihilism. It is the final realization of one who lived without God. And that realization is a cry for the divine answer to the question of what humans should live for.

Solomon's birth and life give deep meaning to human existence. The Bible clearly states that God is in control of the birth of life. However, through Solomon, we can also see the greatest heights that human existence can reach on this earth, as well as the awareness of the consequences of sin, which began with human emotions.

Solomon confesses how much God loves humanity and declares that God is not merely the Giver of life but the One who allows us to participate in His glory. And he leaves us with one truth.

“The words of the Bible are life itself. That is why we say that we ‘eat’ these words. Humans must eat to live. The only way for the soul to live is to eat these words. This is a belief that transcends religion.” This is not merely the language of faith, but a confession of existence.

A Comparison of Extremes, Yet One Truth

This comparison of the two beings reveals the extremes of life. One person could not find truth in suffering, and another left God in pleasure but returned. However, fundamentally, there is no difference between the two. Because the journey on this earth is a passing path, a pilgrimage that must be traversed. And the fact that there is a place to go at the end of that journey alone makes human beings who have already been chosen and deeply loved by God.

The Philosophy That the Soul Must Live By

In the end, those who can overcome suffering are those who have philosophy.

And that philosophy must be the philosophy of the soul that lives by the word, not the logic of reason. Existential ethics says that humans were not born to explain their suffering, but to testify to God's love through their suffering.

This is the final question that we must all reach, passing through Hemingway and Solomon: “Where am I heading now? And whom must I meet at the end?”

Soyo – The one who testifies to the confession of existence and the philosophy of truth.

Soyo (逍遙) – Founder of Soyo's Existence Ethics, Author of 'The Silence of Existence' and 'The Flame of Truth'

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