Tuesday, October 3, 2017

How to live in the final flicker of twilight

What can be done, or even said?

Shall we quote Yeats's "Second Coming" one more time?

Shall we draw attention to the Facebook meme currently in circulation claiming that Vice President Pence's tweet about praying for the Las Vegas victims is invalidated because he has taken NRA money in political campaigns?

Shall we point out the ridiculousness of politicians calling for a ban on automatic weapons, when such a ban has been in place since the 1930s?

Shall we devote yet more space to Jimmy Kimmel and how he embodies the ruin of late-night television?

Shall we publicly express satisfaction that CBS fired its Vice President over her tweet about country music fans?

Shall we parse the fissures in the Republican Party and one more time point out the willful blindness of Trump fans to his boorishness and tone-deafness?

Off the top of my head, I can't tell you how many columns and essays I've come across so far today concluding that post-America's polarization is irreversible.

For so long, we thought we were immune. Forebears from the 1860s could have told us we weren't, but, like all lessons from history now, we'd pay that no heed.

We have turned our back on our special status among the nations of the world, and are now experiencing the kind of decline, humiliation and vulnerability that are routine for ordinary countries.

So what can be done?

Even though it seems pretty clear we no longer enjoy God's favor collectively, those among us who put a walk with Him first in our lives must double our resolve to do so.

There is now no official authority or even cultural institution that can really provide us genuine safety. We are on our own.

I suppose if enough of us so turned with our hearts, we might be able to hope for a change of course on a national scale, but I wouldn't hold your breath on that.

Prayer had already become an indispensable part of my daily life prior to the last month, but I now see that it is as crucial as access to food and water.

One prayer that is daily for me: To not be an agent of the final nudge toward complete crackup.

5 comments:

  1. Sucks to be you these days huh, having to try to coexist with all the fallen here now in America and the world.

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  2. I heard Cal Thomas espousing your God's favor rap on the radio today. I get it but dont buy it.

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  3. For me the message from the Gospels is that anyone can be redeemed. So get to work helping God help them, as these individuals may be placed before you. There is a way and there is a Tao, heaven forbid they are the same, right? And, have fun....

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  4. With every keystroke, every thought that is about to turn into a word, every action these days, I'm asking myself, am I furthering the Kingdom's work in this realm, or am I adding to the sum total of the chaos?

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  5. Have fun, heaven is said to be a playground, but an old Polish proverb claims that there is no beer there. Or was it a German proverb? Maybe Irish. Nevertheless, spiritus contra spiritum and all that jazz..,

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