They Need Curing

Someone presses Dr. Rieux about his beliefs. Does he think there is a God, a meaning, a reward for all this exhausting, dangerous work he does among the dying? Rieux does not offer a philosophy. He gives an answer so plain it is almost humbling. I have no idea what’s awaiting me, he says, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this. There are sick people and they need curing.

Look at how little he claims to know, and how much he still does. He has no map of the universe, no certainty about God or the afterlife or the point of any of it. He does not pretend to. But the absence of cosmic answers does not paralyze him, because he has found the one thing he does know, right in front of him. People are suffering. They need help. He can give it. That is enough to act on.

This is one of Camus’s most practical gifts to us. We often wait to be sure of the big questions before we commit to the small duties. Rieux reverses it. You do not need to solve existence to be useful. You need only to see the suffering within reach and answer it.

Today, stop waiting for certainty about the meaning of everything. Find the person near you who needs something you can give, and give it. There are sick people, and they need curing. For the moment, that is enough to know.