Proclaim the Kingdom

The only thing powerful enough to sustain a noble purpose until the end is love. Vanity won’t do it: it withers when it is not noticed. Vengeance won’t do it: it eats away at the heart until it has mutilated the soul. Greed won’t do it: the more it gains the more it craves, until there is no room left for any purpose other than greed.

All the motivations encompassed by the seven deadly sins are focused inward: how can I satisfy myself. They eat away at the self even as they are exerted. Love looks outward: how can I care for those around me. This is the beginning of love.

St. Augustine said, “You Have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Some insightful men have paraphrased this to describe a hole in the heart that can only be filled by God. The deeper your love for God, the deeper your love for your fellows, and the more you will trust that God knows how to handle all things most efficiently.

Unlike the deadly sins then, which only make the hole in the heart bigger and more insatiable, when you fill that hole with God, you are both satiated and filled with purpose. You progressively lose that, ‘what’s in it for me’ bug that the satan is always trying to inflame in you, and become consumed with keeping faith with God and, thus, your fellows – His people.

A noble parent will die eagerly to save his child. (And yes, I know to my sorrow, that some modern parents care little for their children except as fashion accessories). Expand the love you have for your children to as many of your fellows as you can and you tap into the unending source of fuel needed to endure all pains and surmount all obstacles in your quest for what is noble and what is true.

Everywhere I go, almost everyone I know is walking on eggshells, waiting for the bottom to fall out of the leaky tub we find ourselves in. Some get lost in the firehose of dysfunction that surrounds us, decrying each evil as if we could just end that one all would be well. It is like complaining that the faucet doesn’t work when the house is ablaze: true as your outraged observation may be, it is not terribly relevant to the issue at hand.

Others get caught up in nostalgia, hoping that if we could just get back to some critical piece of the good old days, all would be well. That drives some of the enthusiasm for the Traditional Latin Mass, something I have a lot of sympathy for. The reality is that many of the most faithful Catholics adore the Latin Mass – and in growing numbers. But it is a self-selected group. People like to go to the Latin Mass because many of the most orthodox people go there – and as things get crazier, it is where a lot of orthodox people feel most safe.

But back in the day, it was not a self-selection of orthodox folks. It was everybody – and the very disorders that bedevil us now took root and sprouted in the culture where the Latin Mass was the only option. As Shakespeare said, the problem is not in our stars but in ourselves. The problem has become not that a particular element is out of whack and that, if we can fix that, all will be well. Everything is out of whack. The house is ablaze – and fixing the faucet is not going to change that.

We are at the very edge of some cataclysmic change. It may not be as dire as I think it will be, but it will be comprehensive. The ship of state is not in for a tune-up; it is about to undergo a complete overhaul.

Now is the time to truly trust God and do the little we can that is right in front of us. Obsessing over a fragment of the disorder or yearning for a better time is not a way of dealing with the problem. It is a form of escapism that creates an illusion of useful advocacy.

I operate from the assumption that things are too far gone and all is coming down for a time. So I deal with those dysfunctions I can that are right in front of me, but my focus is on the things we will need and can do together to rebuild and renew under God after all seems lost. Figure out where you will get your basics – water, food, shelter – and how you can band together to extend those necessities to those around you. That is what will put us in position to grow together whatever happens.

It is fearful because we do not know exactly how it will all happen. But that is a feature, not a bug. God wants us to rely on Him more without failing to do the little that we can with our neighbors, with love for each other. Trust me: when we give him that little fish of our trust with the tiny part we can do, He will use it to feed a multitude. Divine love grows to fill our lives. We will do what we can BECAUSE we love, trusting that whatever outcome God allows will forward the Kingdom.

If I am to live, may I live for Christ. If I am to die, may I die for Christ. However God disposes things, with this sort of love, the Kingdom is unstoppable. Let us all go forth and bear fruit that will last.

Charlie Johnston

Don’t Open Your Door

There is talk of the ATF (Federal agency Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms) going door to door in some northeastern states, asking to see all the firearms in the house. For your own protection, of course. You are not required to respond! A warrant is required to carry out this sort of investigation, and they are relying on intimidation. Best idea: never answer your door unless you recognize the person on the other side.

Don’t Answer Your Phone

Don’t answer your phone when you don’t recognize the number calling. I was taken in by scammers last week, the day after my credit card was hacked. They convinced me that it was a much bigger hack than I suspected, and that I was in danger of being arrested. It’s apparently a common scam, and they rely on fear to get you to part with your private information and money. I got out before that point, but they are extremely good at what they do. Just don’t pick up the phone.

Readiness

No one disputes anymore that there are hard times coming. It seems to be Satan’s strategy to open as many fronts as possible so that we are overwhelmed, figuring out which fire to put out first. There are the problems in the Church, the assault on children, fraudulent elections, reduced police presence, firearm ownership threatened, not to mention the deliberate provocation of war with two nuclear powers. It’s an attack on our emotional balance.

Take care of yourself! Give yourself time-outs when needed. Do what you need to get proper sleep. Spend fun, unstructured time with people you love. Always keep something in the front of your mind to look forward to. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Laugh in spite of it all.

Everything gets easier when we are fit and ready. It’s the same advice we’ve been getting for decades, but now it’s super important to heed it!

• Outdoor exercise
• Good nutrition
• Solid sleep

Which one is better equipped to survive the storm?

We are going to need extreme fitness to play our parts in the upcoming drama. Not ultra-athlete fitness, but prayed-up, played-up, intelligently-fueled training to be as strong as we can be. There is plenty of evidence that some chronic health conditions can be ameliorated or even reversed by diet and exercise. This is the time to do it.

Physical fitness absolutely affects our emotional fitness. One strenuous outdoor workout lifts your mood for the rest of the day, and helps you sleep more soundly. There are scientific reasons for this. The day-by-day erosion of our emotional well-being by the various assaults we suffer must be remedied by healthy exercise, nutrition and sleep.

Poor nutrition and lack of exercise make sleep more elusive. In turn, poor sleep stimulates overeating. It’s a package deal. Make changes in all three areas, and see how life improves for you.

It’s never been more important to take care of ourselves.