In his essay on Sisyphus, Albert Camus ends with these haunting words: “one must imagine Sisyphus happy.” Camus invites us to wrestle with the appropriate response to absurdity. Is it suicide? That is to say, is the killing of oneself in light of the human condition, the existential angst and ontological trauma we face, a proper resolution to our dilemma? Is there something—despite the absurdity involved—that humans may grab hold of and anchor themselves to, as that which constitutes the reason life should continue? Camus answers, “yes.” While some wallow in nihilistic thought and tendencies, Camus—without God—pushes for something more. He sees in the struggle(s) against nihilism, against injustice, and so on, the stuff of a worthy existence—the purpose of a life without certainties. With guest speaker Rev. Dr. Andrea Johnson



Rev. Dr. Andrea Johnson is a community minister affiliated with First Universalist Church in Minneapolis. She recently completed her Doctor of Ministry in public theology at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. The title of her dissertation is: Human Liberation, Sacred Nature, and the Inescapable Network of Mutuality: Theologically Grounding Unitarian Universalism’s Quest to Dismantle White Supremacy. 

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