I find it kind of amusing that it’s a matter of a penguin video. The bigger questions of life could simply be engaged in and of themselves. But hey, whatever works for the Tik-Tok/Video Shorts generation of today. If it takes a penguin video to prompt such discussion, then that’s fine with me. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a look. The title of the video is the “Nihilistic Penguin.” It’s less than three minutes. It’s not a new video, but a video newly received and now known as a meme. In it, a little penguin wanders off from the rest heading in the opposite direction - off towards the mountains and away from the open sea. The narrator, Werner Herzog, wonders why. Is the penguin insane? I’m not sure that insanity is a possibility for a penguin, nor is the ecologist animal expert in the video. All that’s known is that he is going off by himself for some unknown reason and that he is undeterred in his journey as he begins waddling away...to a certain death, so says the narrator. The short clip has gone viral on the internet after someone supposedly had a life changing moment after viewing it. Hmmm. Yeah, watching a penguin video changed my life. Okay...I’ll 6-7 that. I’ve brought the whole matter up with my friends in our Eighth Grade, not because I’m particularly interested in penguins, though they are kinda cute, but because I am very interested in life’s “bigger questions” and I want them to be interested too - as we all should be. So, I asked them to watch, ponder, and question. Why would a penguin go off in a different direction all by itself? Is the little guy’s death a certainty? And penguins aside, what about you? What direction are you headed in? I’m interested in our soon-to-be-high-schooler’s thoughts, and I’m interested in yours as well. In what direction are you headed? It’s interesting to note that Jesus, Himself, caused quite the stir by going off in a different direction. The Pharisees and Scribes were none too happy. Jesus would make His Way undeterred to the heights of Jerusalem and a certain death that would result in a whole new Life. Nihilism vanquished one might say. As we now prepare to enter the Season of Lent, the season of “bigger” questions, consider a meme penguin’s different direction and determination, but much more importantly in this most sacred season, consider your own!
Peace!
Fr. Wilson