The Enlightenment turned away from truth and toward a darkling weakening horizon, sad and grey to see. The afterglow of Christianity is near gone now and a stygian silence lurks in wait.
~ Norm Macdonald
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be My son.” … Then the angel showed me the river of the Water of Life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His Name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their Light, and they will reign forever and ever. … “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing My recompense with Me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the beginning and the end.” … Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the Tree of Life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the Root and the Descendant of David, the Bright Morning star.” The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the Water of Life without price.
~The Apocalypse seen by John, The Beloved Disciple, in portions of Revelation 21 & 22
Oh beloved, it is true.
Many of us feel it. We can feel that something has shifted towards darkness in our world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us all.
Actually, this is especially true for those who are the children of “The Greatest Generation.” These are those among us, whose parents and uncles and aunts and grandparents saw another darkness descending on the world in the 1930s and 1940s. But this generation, fueled by the many awakenings to Truth and to G_d in the 1800s (including the Keswick Awakening!) kicked at that darkness spilling out of the bowels of hell through the occult of Hitler’s Third Reich.
Boys who had learned to mow hay, and shoot rabbits in places like Iowa piled off the landing craft at places like Normandy and Omaha Beach. Now sure, they were full of a bit of salt and vinegar, but they fought towards the danger bursting with the strength and courage that Truth and Love-of-good brings.
These boys – the ones who made it across the beach – were no longer infantry when they got across those beaches. They were warriors of a class hewn only from a combination of True Conviction, Love of Brother, and having been given an impossible mission to kick at real darkness until it bled daylight.
Girls who had barely kissed their boys goodbye, learned to forge steel, iron, copper and brass into the tools their warriors would use overseas. These girls became women of the stature of the Excellent Wife in Proverbs 31.
These women were strong, wise, courageous, loving – and believed that the Truth their men were fighting for – was worth never seeing this man again. They believed strongly enough to be willing to receive a telegram delivered from CINC USAREUR or the President thanking the family for the sacrifice of their boys and sons.
No doubt, we see this kind of Courage borne of Love and Truth across the centuries. People who knew that they knew The Truth had nearly no trouble abiding in the prisons of Asia, or the Catacombs – or running towards their physical death in the Coliseums of Rome. They knew The Way, The Truth and The Life. And Jesus gave them the Grace to be more than victorious through all of these challenges.
I think of my grandfather. A guy with troubles and hang-ups just like any of us. But there was something different about him (and guys like him). There was a glint in the eye, and a subtle up-tilt of chin that betrayed their warrior status. They had seen evil lies become a monster that threatened to smother the world. They had also looked that darkness right in the eye, and punched it square in the jaw. They held onto Truth like it was the most precious of jewels, for they had seen the prospect of life being smothered in darkness and death, without Love or Truth under Hitler’s occult of the Third Reich.
As we would drive onto old Luke or Williams AFB in Arizona, to go to the PX, my grandfather would respectfully submit to all the rules and regulations of entry. And he would humbly accept the due respect that came to him the moment that he showed his old military ID, with the LT COL (O-5) grade, and the honorable discharge indicator on his DD214. Young airmen would spring to attention and get a bit nervous as my grandfather gave them a courteous salute and thanked THEM for continuing the fight.
I cannot imagine what my grandfather would think of the false, flat, boring and tangibly nihilistic landscape we have – each of us – allowed our world to become. Bread and circus has replaced the vibrant potentiality that pervades lives drenched in Truth.
Can we see it?
If we can’t, we are doomed. Some people yawn at the idea that the West could fade and become irrelevant. But, for anyone willing to look up from their smartphone for a few seconds, our evanescence is real and about to go totally flat. What should we do?!?! Make the politicians fix it!?!?!?! Make those evil (people that think differently than me) stop!?!?! STAND UP FOR MY RIGHTS!!!???!!!??? My truth is the only reality!?!?
Blah. Blah, Oh… just blah.
As all of this nonsensical buzzing blends into a deathly, stygian silence. We feel the death around us. We partake in the ever-more-boring dying and meaninglessness of our self-invention, self-entertainment, and compromise. We are not even comfortable in our numbness… And we sense the bitter death that awaits us and our culture.
There is a path through this, beloved.
It is a simple but excruciatingly painful choice. The shift is from believing that i am the author of my own truth, and submitting to the reality that Truth is reality as defined by an unchanging standard, like a law of Physics, or better yet: G_d. We fight this because of our pride, but all of us get it, if we are honest. We do not have “our own truth.” We have opinions, and we are simply unwilling to listen to wisdom.
Truthful Love is the substance that flows from our Triune Maker. And His Word CONSTITUTES reality. Further, the totality of this Word has been clearly outlined/summarized in the common Canon (i.e., Rule or Standard) of the 66 book of the Old and New Testaments. Further, we have guides and examples of the “great cloud of witnesses” who have gone before us. And, most visibly, we have the witness of creation itself.
What if we just looked away from the motionless and empty centers of our ego, and simply allowed ourselves to see things as they really are? And then, what if we asked a few questions and submitted to the results of our serious inquiries, allowing G_d’s revelation to inform the entire process?.
- Origin (WHERE did we come from? WHO made me, and WHY?
- Meaning of life and existence? WHY was I made? HOW could this help OTHERS?
- Morality? WHAT is right? WHAT is wrong? And WHY is it right or wrong?
- Identity? in light of 1-3 above, WHO am I? HOW then shall I live?
- Destiny? WHAT will happen to the world? WHAT happens when I die?
Beloved, are you struggling through what feels like the smothering death of our nation and culture? It is happening. It is very, very, very real. The truth is that we will not survive without a radical repentance from our wicked, selfish ways.
However, the beauty is that we have no need to live within this falling darkness. The Word Who Made The Worlds has a much different plan for how all of creation is supposed to work. Read the passages above, from John Apocalyptic Revelation one more time. Listen to Light. Taste the Sound of His Voice. Hear the music of Eternal Truth. Feel the touch of the Love of G_d as it leads the dance of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Take courage dear ones. Tonight is your night. Truth is, that if we Live in Truth as we are Designed… Nothing in all of hell and darkness can stand in the way. The music of Heaven will draw us away from the silence of the River Styx, and plunge us body, spirit and soul into the delicious Love Song of the River of Life!
You are but a poor soldier of Christ if you think you can overcome without fighting, and suppose you can have the crown without the conflict.
~Saint John Chrysostom c. 347-407
