Our Present Age

 

Romans 1: 18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

Romans 1: 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.

Clearly, we are governed by such people.  If anyone had any doubt about this before, there can be no doubt today. 

Where has such behavior led in the past?

Leviticus 18: 24 ‘Do not defile yourselves with any of these things; for by all these the nations are defiled, which I am casting out before you. 25 For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants.

Deuteronomy 20: 16 “But of the cities of these peoples which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, 17 but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18 lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the Lord your God.

People will cry, “Oh, that’s not fair; that isn’t just.”  Don’t be fooled.  God is very patient (He gave the Canaanites centuries), but He isn’t mocked.

Romans 2: 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.

We live in a wicked land, ruled by wicked people.  God’s judgment is true.

Levin’s Confession

 

“To live not for one’s needs but for God!”

“How does he remember God?  How does he live for the soul?”  Levin almost cried out.

“You know how: rightly, in a godly way.  You know, people differ!  Take you, for instance, you won’t injure anyone either…”

Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy

While the novel is named for Anna, Constantine Levin is as central to the story as she and the novel ends with Levin’s confession of faith – a re-discovery (as he abandoned the Orthodox faith of his childhood) that was prompted by a discussion with a peasant.

The words the peasant had spoken had produced in his soul the effect of an electric spark…

This spark brought together many disjointed ideas he had carried through his life. 

“Can I possibly have found the solution of everything?  Have my sufferings really come to an end? … I have discovered nothing.  I have only perceived what it is that I know.”

This realization showed him one thing: he had lived well (that is to say, rightly, in a godly way), but he thought badly. 

“Whence comes the joyful knowledge I have in common with the peasant, and which alone gives me peace of mind?  Where did I get it?”

He spent much time examining many worldly philosophies and ideas in search of the truth that was offered to him from the time of being an infant, as if drinking the truth in with his mother’s milk.

“Can this really be faith? … My God, I thank thee!”

Sobbing, tears filling his eyes.

Yet this joy, this realization would run right up against his old habits.  Yes, he regularly treated others kindly; he could also be quite short with them – including his wife.  Was this joy just a momentary thing, something that would pass soon enough?

He reconciled with his shortcomings, while holding on to this newly embraced faith.  The entire book closes with his confession:

“I shall still get angry with Ivan the coachman in the same way, shall dispute in the same way, shall inopportunely express my thoughts; there will still be a wall between my soul’s holy of holies and other people; even my wife I shall still blame for my own fears and shall repent of it.  My reason will still not understand why I pray, but I shall still pray, and my life, my whole life, independently of anything that may happen to me, is every moment of it no longer meaningless as it was before, but has an unquestionable meaning of goodness with which I have the power to invest it.”

Some Clarity

Observations and thoughts about how things are going with MAGA.

Whatever the Reason

Whatever the reason that Trump isn’t get most of what he said he wanted to do get done, he isn’t.  Whether he wants to but can’t, or if he doesn’t want to and never wanted to, it doesn’t make a difference.  It just proves, perhaps more powerfully than ever – given the wave of support Trump had – nothing meaningful will change based on who you vote for.

The best way to kill a movement?  Give it what it wants.  Trump, with a majority in both houses of congress; some of the best anti-war / pro-transparency people in his cabinet.  Then prove that nothing important changes; they laughingly put your impotence right in your face.

But, a reminder to not forget what has changed.  Yes, the border seems to be reasonably closed – except for more H1-B visas and more foreign college students.  And yes, we don’t hear as much openly about how terrible you are if you are a straight white male.  So, that’s something.

Civil War

It was clear all along: supporting genocide was sure to split the republican base, just as it did the democratic elite from their base.  Note the difference: on the democrat side, the split is fundamentally between the elite and the base.  On the republican side, the split is in the base.  For both the democrat and republican elite, there is no split – they are all in.

It is tough to keep in mind, but while the people vote for revolution (e.g. Trump three times, Bernie Sanders in 2016, Mamdani today), the elite want civil war – keep the plebes fighting against each other, and that way they won’t revolt against the elite.

Problem Solved

In the first few months of Trump’s presidency, I wrote something about not being sure what to make of Trump 2.0.  The answer has become clearer to me, and not because I have deciphered his 17-D chess moves or anything like that.

When you want Thomas Massie out, and when Marjorie Taylor Greene is a traitor and resigns (read her resignation statement here, and see if this isn’t more like what people thought they voted for with Trump), and throw Rand Paul in there as some other kind of bad guy, there is no cause for confusion.  The most “America First” people in congress are enemy number one for Trump.

Need more be said?

Go Along to Get Along

 

A topic I have been thinking about for some time, motivated by an episode in my life a few months ago.  Why is it coming out now?  I guess I have stewed on it long enough, but also because regular commenter Roger posted something at his site, “How to Get Along in Five Easy Steps”.  To be clear: both his context and mine regards those we know, those we interact with – friends, family, neighbors. 

Roger’s first step:

Examine yourself and admit that you might have something to do with the problem. Identify those areas within your own life which make it hard for other people to get along with you. (Notice that the thrust of the argument has been flipped. It’s not that you find it hard to get along with others, but that they find it hard to get along with you. If this rings true, then Step 2 should be easy for you to figure out.)

This is so right.  How much of our conflict and disagreement is rooted and perpetuated in a lack of self-reflection?  This is evidence of pride – a lack of humility.  It is contrary to a fundamental teaching of Jesus Christ:

Matthew 7: 3 And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

Roger’s following four steps are left blank, to be customized by you and me – according to where we are and regarding the specifics of the issues.  He does suggest using the Beatitudes as a guideline for this, and I wholeheartedly agree.

With that said…

There is so little left available to us to discuss openly and freely even with friends and family, where a difference of opinion does not result in an opportunity for growth but instead a certainty of disdain.  This hit me with full force recently, with a group who is very important to me.  Not that there is a surprise, as there have been clear signs and comments – but reality has a way of using a two-by-four upside the head when replacing what was likely with what is certain.

Matthew 22: 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Am I loving my neighbor if I am not presenting Christ to him?  Yet, it is right here, where conflict rises to the point of disdain – because almost every subject is now considered in such an extreme manner, and the worst of these subjects are so contrary to Christ – sinful, and unrepentantly so.  In fact, presented as if somehow what is plain in Scripture is not really there.

In other words, while society has watered down the meaning of “love” to be something like “affirm,” this is not true love, not the love we are called to. 

I would like to go back to the passage in Matthew 7, with what immediately follows Jesus’s teaching about planks and logs in eyes:

Matthew 7: 6 “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.”

Immediately after Jesus teaches to focus on self-reflection, the gospel writer Matthew records this.  It is interesting: as Roger notes, self-reflection, then work through the Beatitudes. 

I think one could consider the entirety of the Beatitudes an exercise and growth opportunity in self-reflection.  So, after such self-reflection, it seems Jesus suggests we stop dealing with our neighbors in the same way.

Conclusion

At some point, loving my neighbor by presenting the Gospel to him comes to an end.  And at that point, I know how to go along to get along: stick to sports and music.  Thus far, these subjects are not so tainted that they result in disdain.