What's Next?

 

It was about 100 years ago when the Spanish Flu hit the country, killing many elderly people.  Then there was a pause; it seemed over; and then it hit all the children, who died in even greater numbers.  And now we had a Covid virus which filled our hospitals and many elderly people died, and then it paused.  And now our hospitals are again filled to overflowing, with our children with the RSV virus.  It seems like things don’t change.

 

It was about 100 years ago when the rich, with the consent of liberal religious, focused on electing a new government, which would make things equal for all people, eliminating prejudice and hatefulness, and the country celebrated the election of new leaders, “of the people”.

It also was about 100 years ago when a woman named Margaret Sanger promoted a way to rid the country of those who “weren’t like us”; they were children of slaves and would never be like “us”.  And she urged women to stand up for their “rights”, and to fight to legalize abortion.

 

Today, in Michigan, many are celebrating the election of a government which will exercise complete control of our children, born and unborn.  Abortion is unlimited, even to permitting death after birth.  Public schools educate our children on their “right” to complete sexual freedom, from early on changing their sex (or eliminating it entirely), creating new sexes, to abortion should pregnancy interfere with their sexual fun.  Social media permitted and promoted urges children to focus on “fun”.  And children in public schools may not pray or speak of God.  That is something “not good for you”, but if you must, you may go outside to pray, or smoke.

Today, it is a blessing, I think, that Proposal 3 passed in the state of Michigan. If this evil had not passed this election, it would have passed the next, as the young heavily voted for it. Our eyes are now opened.  The young heavily voted to pass the bill for unlimited abortion, and more.  They learned their lessons well in school, and acted on them.  Our children’s hearts were changed; a train was sent rushing down the tracks by our school system, and words would not stop it.   

 

So, what of the immediate future?  Relative to “sexual freedom” laws, it seems just a matter of time until all states pass such laws.  Public school rules are dictated by the government, which now places abortion as one of the most important “freedoms” our country can promote here, and in the world.  But there is hope.  While we still can, we can stop the train at our school system, create a new train, or tear up the tracks so no one can go that way again.  And, while we still can, we can educate parents on what their children are learning ---- while they are off using THEIR freedom to make more money or focus on their own happiness.  And, we can pray and fast, and educate our religious leaders, on how they are supposed to lead.

 

I said “while we still can” relative to speaking and acting against our “sexual freedom” schools and laws.  Today people who dare to speak against such “freedoms” are labeled as racist or -phobic, and risk losing their jobs.  Their social media accounts, even those used to promote their private businesses, are being shut down.  People who speak out “only” risk losing their means of livelihood and their freedom of religion --- so far.  But more may come. 

That country which elected a government to make all things equal a hundred years ago?  That was Russia, and those rich and “religious” who promoted the election of a government of freedoms?  They were among the first executed by that government, and religion was totally outlawed.  And that Planned Parenthood organization started by Margaret Sanger to abort babies “not like us”?  It now aborts ALL our babies, by the millions, especially those who WOULD BE “like us” if we had allowed them to live.

And if we continue to enact a government of freedoms, what is our future?

But, … it was about 2,000 years ago and people weren’t that much different then.  Until things began to change, as God entered the world, and He appointed apostles to continue what He taught.  We are now those apostles.

 

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Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled, as to console;
To be understood, as to understand;
To be loved as to love;
For it is in giving that we receive;
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

 

It's the first prayer I pray each morning.

It's Only a Moment

Matthew Kelly, in his latest book, The Biggest Lie in the History of Christianity, notes that holiness IS possible for everyone, and how we “can collaborate with God and create a single Holy Moment (that) is life-changing.”  We can begin the walk to becoming saints.  And he goes on to give dozens of examples of simple Holy Moments, starts on the path to sainthood.  I believe a summary of his book might be: “Holy Moments are possible.  Holiness is possible.”

I think Kelly’s words help me to re-frame my thoughts on life.

I was meditating before confession, considering what were my sins since my last confession, how they came about, and how I could put into action a resolve to avoid them in the future.  I think I used to think of sins as events, kind of like a film-clip snippet of my life.  A lot of things happen in my life --- in fact it goes on for 24 hours a day --- but sins, well, they were events on some days.  Sometimes you had to see the story of events before the sin, to see what led up to it, and sometimes you had to watch the events after it, to see its impacts and seriousness.  In fact, some of the film clips of my sin seemed rather long.  That’s why I always took time before confession to think things through.  Sometimes when I thought things out I may have concluded a sin rather minor, while one I hadn’t even noticed loomed large in its impact.  These thoughts helped me be serious about what I was confessing.

Recently, I was considering a sin and I recalled the words of St. Paul: “Why do I do the things I don’t want to do?”  I knew what this sin was; I didn’t want to do it, and yet I did.  And I asked myself why.  And then, God answered.  I heard Him ask me: “You often pray to know and to do my will, to be who I created you to be?”  And I said, “Yes, Lord.”  And then He asked: “At every moment?”  And then the event of my sin, the film clip which my mind was watching changed.  It stopped.  The story became a single, still picture.  A moment.  That was the moment I decided to sin.  And I argued with myself: “No, there were contributing factors, things that led up to and facilitated that sin.  Without those factors it wouldn’t have happened.”  And I heard God reply to my thoughts: “No, at that moment you decided not to do my will, but yours.  I KNOW.  I watched Adam and Eve do the same thing.  And I felt the same way about it.”

And I realized the truth of His words.

Matthew Kelly notes that our living as Christians --- true followers of Christ --- can begin with a single Holy Moment, a single moment when we resolve to do the will of Christ.  Our journey to become saints can start with but a single moment.  But, as my reflections noted, a single moment can also be a start to our being banned from eternal life with God.

It’s only a moment.  What causes us to make good or bad decisions in that moment?  I thought that it was the series of circumstances that happened to me, events that surrounded me.  But no, I now perceive decisions come from what’s within me.  In my heart, do I want to do the will of God for me, --- at every moment?

Certainly, the events with which I choose to surround myself influence my heart.  If I live in and around sinners, my heart will see sin in a lighter tone --- everyone does it.  If I live in and around people focused on living Holy Moments --- even if only occasionally --- my heart will perceive the great value of those moments.  And it is my heart which, at some critical moment, will decide.

Jesus comes to us in the Eucharist, not a Jesus Who came to earth in the past, not a Jesus Who promises to come again, but a Jesus Who is here each moment.  He waits.  We choose.

It’s only a moment.  We’re born into this world.  Our parents may have given us a Holy Moment in Baptism, but soon we have to choose, and from our hearts.  Do we seek to fill our days with God’s will, Holy Moments, or do we choose not to do His will, and sin?  I think we sometimes pretend that thoughts on these matters are something “I’ll consider later.”  And the moments go by, and whether we believe it or not, we are making choices.

Choose to grow in holiness?  Choose to slip in sin?  It’s only a moment, and it’s only our life.  Every moment counts.

Every word, every gesture, every telephone call, every decision
we make should be the most beautiful one of our life,
giving our love and our smile to everyone, without losing a second.

Let every moment of our life be
the first moment,
the last moment,
the only moment.

-- Testimony of Hope, by Van Thuan
(who spent 13 years in communist prisons)

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Life is a mountain.

There it is, a summary in under 20 characters.  You can Tweet it out.  And if you are known as a somewhat serious person, many will read the words and say “Yup,” and move on.  But very few --- perhaps those who think of you as an intelligent person or even a holy one --- will consider the words more deeply, for life is no simple thing.

A one-minute consideration --- a lot for the attention span of most people these days --- will note that life DOES have ups and downs, and whether things are going good or bad just wait; things will change.  This might be the “analysis” of those who consider life a random thing, influenced by its surroundings.  Thinking this way gives people an excuse for the bad things that happen to them, or that they do: “It’s beyond my control.  Don’t blame me.”    (yes, I noticed someone who recently said similar words.)

A deeper consideration of life, perhaps time in study or time in prayer, sees not just the four words, but begins to see a three-dimensional picture of the words.  A mountain goes up and down; it narrows at the top; it widens at the bottom.  Beyond the bottom is plain earth, mud, everything the same.  Beyond the top is eternity; the narrowness of the peak opens into an immensity of beauty beyond. 

If life is a mountain, our life, we’re choosing to go up that mountain, or down it.  Our choices are those moments we spoke of.  Now there may be a path circling the mountain, neither going up nor down, but it’s likely to go in one direction or the other at some point.  Paths are rarely straight lines, and neither is life.

Thinking people know life is not a random thing; we make choices, and we have a reason for those choices.  A person of faith believes God when He says He wants us with Him in eternity, and even if we can’t see the top of our mountain we can see the light there, the light He spoke of.  And with study and prayer, it can become clearer.

Those who study the mountain of life note the implications of its size, wider at the bottom, and therefore there will be more paths to choose from.  And the paths down will be easier, in fact if you aren’t careful you may find yourself running down a path, or even falling and rolling down, beyond control.  Once you start down, it sometimes is difficult to stop.  The paths up, however, are fewer as the mountain narrows, and they are more work to take.  Indeed, some peaks are so steep you can’t get up them yourself, which is a good reason to find someone to travel with you through life, who strongly desires to go in the direction you do, to help you on the more difficult paths.

Life’s path sometimes seems long and weary.  But if we choose, moment by moment, to follow the path up, we will at some point have a view of the destination, and our resolve to enter the eternity won for each of us will become a joy.

They looked up and saw a star,
Shining in the East beyond them far.
And to the earth it gave great light,
And so it continued both day and night.
-- Noel

Review: The Fragility of Order

This book is a collection of George Weigel’s essays written over the last two decades.  Their common focus is on what caused the great hope present at the start of the Twentieth Century to decay into wars, tens of millions killed, and the rising conviction that the truths of mankind inscribed by the American Founders in the Declaration of Independence are merely “irrational prejudice”. 

This is a book of hope for those searching for God’s wisdom, and perhaps an awakening for those wondering why others can’t see THEIR wisdom.

Weigel documents the decline of freedoms and associated moral responsibilities to certain amoral freedoms defined and enforced by government.  At times the tragedy of the events appears to overwhelm him:

It seems unlikely that the West will form … the will to challenge the lies and propaganda of the forces of disorder … if our culture continues to be eroded from within by skepticism and relativism. (p67)

If the high culture of the West continues to fritter its time away in the intellectual sandbox of postmodern irrationalism, in which there is “your truth” and “my truth” but nothing properly describable as “the truth”, the West will be unable to defend itself.  Why?  Because the West won’t be able to give reasons why its commitments to civility, tolerance, human rights, and the rule of law are worth defending. (p82)

Decadence and democracy cannot indefinitely coexist.  (p103)

But then Weigel begins to document words of hope.  He shows the results of subsidiarity and solidarity, as promoted by JPII, in Poland.  He defines and documents the causes of the decline in our culture:

The underlying moral problem is … adults who have internalized a sense of entitlement that is wholly disconnected from a sense of responsibility …. The question becomes what can one get out of the state, not What am I contributing to the common good? … The very idea of common good, which may demand personal sacrifice … has become the temple of a new form of worship: the worship of the imperial autonomous Self, which, in 1992, three justices of the U.S. Supreme Court celebrated as “the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and the mystery of human life.” (p113)

In simple terms, My Truth vs Your Truth defines the battles of our culture.

Mr. Weigel’s essay on A New Great Awakening defines specific steps to re-build the culture’s moral obligations and responsibilities, including the obligation to contribute to the common good and the responsibility of living in solidarity with others, especially those who find living their obligations and fulfilling their responsibilities difficult.  He notes The shortest route to the reclamation of these truths is … turning to the God of the Bible in order to grasp the truth about the human person. (p144)

Weigel promotes journalist Rod Dreher’s “Benedict Option”:  Proponents of the Benedict Option tell us, make the task ahead clear: abandon all hope for a political solution to what is a civilizational crisis and turn toward the construction of virtuous life in self-organized small communities.  For it is there that the seeds of civilizational rebirth will be planted. (p145)

The short game will also challenge those who now suggest that efficient authoritarianism is the answer to or public woes.  The long game is, of course, the more important and determinative game.  The long game is the new Great Awakening: the rebirth of the ideas about the human person, human community, and human destiny that once formed the American experiment in ordered liberty. (p149)

The repairing of our culture begins with us.  Weigel issues a great challenge to all Christians, to once again build Christian communities.  It is not totally starting over; it is re-building on forgotten foundations.  It is giving hope to our neighbors who search for it.  It is loving our neighbor.

And it needs to be a commitment, a firm focus of our life, not just on Sundays, not “when we have time”, not only if they believe as we believe.  It says we will give some of the most important things we have to give to our neighbor: time.

The order of our culture, of the world, is indeed a fragile thing.  We each can make a difference.