by Carl V. Bibeau
Loss of control seems counterintuitive for survival. However, it is necessary to make a distinction between physical survival and spiritual survival.
There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nothing hidden
that will not be made known. Everything you have said in the dark
will be heard in the daylight; what you have whispered in locked
rooms will be proclaimed from the rooftops.
"I say to you who are my friends: Do not be afraid of those who kill
the body and can do no more. Fear him who has power to cast into
Gehenna after he has killed."1
Martyrs face the ultimate witness unto belief. Many folks demure that they are not personally called to martyrdom. I posit that ALL Believers are called to that witness. It may not come in the form of a dramatic ultimatum, achieving one's "fifteen minutes of fame" on the world's stage with explicit or violent bloodshed. But the simple act of dying according to God's appointed time is itself an act of aligning one's will with the Divine.
September 30
Thursday, the day of her holy death.
All through the day, without a moment's respite, she remained,
we can say without exaggeration, in veritable torments.
She appeared to be at the end of her strength and nevertheless,
to our great surprise, she was able to move, to sit up in her bed.
"You see the strength that I have today! No, I'm not going to die.
I still have strength for months, perhaps years!"
"And if God willed it," asked Mother Prioress, "would you accept it?"
She began to answer in her agony...
"It would really have to be..."
But checking herself immediately, she said with a tone of
sublime resignation, falling back on her pillow...
"I really will it!"2
Anxiety is a constant threat for anyone who remains conscious and of sound mind. Post-Modern thought impinges on one's individual internal dialogue to prompt the self-righteous demand for autonomy. We persuade ourselves toward "rights" which we do not have. Suicide can thus be rationalized incorrectly as a valid personal choice. Abortion and Euthanasia are obliquely and falsely justified according to a supposed "right to privacy" which we never possessed at such a level. Like it or not, humans do not exist without impacting each others' freedom to act. There are certain rights which none of us may have, because to assume them, would remove them from everyone's reach.
Once a people escalates doubt of the existence of God, the subsequent despair burrows so deeply, so as to incite the questioning of absolutely everything. Who exactly is human? When does life exactly begin? When does life exactly end? As more details and variables emerge through scientific discovery, the answers to those questions only appear to be relative if we have lost God as the source of Wisdom. The logical progression of Relativism, or lack of Objective Truth, therefore culminates in confusion and chaos.
Is this progression indefinitely preventable? Decidedly not.
Is there an antidote? Yes, a Revival of faith in God.
But, you say, whose God? Again, we are plunged into a Relativist debate. Can this state of devolvement continue indefintitely?
Now enters the survival mechanism of DENIAL. "This couldn't possibly be happening to li'l ol' insignificant me... at this micromoment of the cosmos." Then, "humanist wisdom" trots out a series of disclaimers: "The world has always had these problems." "History is cyclical."
But soon, the ever-present arrogance of mankind reasserts itself. Seduction toward the opposite pole of importance produces a god-like delusion. We rationalize that we're well on our way to solving the mysteries of the universe. "Immortality will eventually be under our control." This fundamental flaw is truly nothing new "under the sun." But though aspects of history are indeed cyclical, man's accumulation of knowledge and the building of philosophy upon what preceeds, is linear. Existentialism and Nihilism are long since stale. Make no mistake. Christ's Second Coming is inevitable upon the extinguishment of true belief, known as mass apostasy. Man's own physical capabilities of complete annihilation are quite incidental.
So which is better?
Life to me, of course, is Christ, but then death would bring me something more; but then again, if living in this body means doing work which is having good results - I do not know what I should choose. I am caught in this dilemma: I want to be gone and be with Christ, which would be very much the better, but for me to stay alive in this body is a more urgent need for your sake.3
Even as one must come to perfect resignation unto the Will of God as to the time of one's personal death, eschatologically, one must be equally open to Revival - OR - the falling of the curtain on all of time as we know it. In that sense, Principle is Paramount. We should never be caught by surprise in the midst of trying to prolong an unprincipled existence. Bargaining for extensions we do not deserve, nor have any right to request, is not virtuous. We may request mercy, but we certainly must not presume it.
Objectivity
Is the person making the prediction objective enough to believe
that either outcome is possible? People who believe only one outcome is possible have already completed their prediction...
People only apply all their predictive resources when they
believe either outcome is possible.4
As we struggle to discern, and then to do, "the next right thing" may we comprehend that the right thing to seek is simply...
+++ Action toward the best of which we can conceive
____________(not merely to limit evil)_____________
+++ Prayer: Thy Will Be Done!
Abraham had the courage to raise a knife to his beloved Isaac out of obedience to his Father God. You don't even have the courage to cast your vote for the candidate who openly proclaims God's Sovereignty.
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permission granted to reprint or disseminate electronically in its entirety with credit of authorship, and link to http://laying-the-groove.blogspot.com
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