From “Nothing Really Matters” to “Imagine”

From “Nothing Really Matters” to “Imagine”

12 October 2025

This Sunday, I woke up with the lyric “Nothing really matters.”Freddie Mercury’s words from Bohemian Rhapsody linger — suspended between resignation and liberation. It captures a mood that feels familiar: beneath all the noise and victories, there’s an undercurrent of emptiness.

Then John Lennon’s Imagine came to mind.

Where Mercury lets go of meaning, Lennon rebuilds it: “Imagine all the people, living life in peace.” Secular, yet deeply spiritual — a call to connection beyond borders, possessions, or religion.

We live in what some call a pandemic of loneliness, with rising rates of anxiety and depression. Yet brief moments of unity still appear — like a recent football victory that lifted an entire community. For hours, people cheered, celebrated, and felt alive together. But the euphoria fades, and the question returns: what truly matters?

Studies show that Generation Z is increasingly searching for meaning, sometimes turning back to spirituality. The decline in religious affiliation is slowing, suggesting a desire for anchors in a world that can feel adrift.

“Nothing really matters” captures the void; Imagine sketches a way forward. Between the two lies our challenge: to transform fleeting joy and isolation into lasting connection, empathy, and purpose.

Ultimately, the search for meaning often leads back to the oldest question: is there something—or Someone—beyond us that gives life depth? For many, that answer is still God. In a world that feels adrift, faith — in God, in love, in each other — remains our compass.

Miguel Goede