Well sitetest,
It took me a long time to learn to put my trust in God....but when I did, it was the LESSON of LIFE...because He has NEVER let me down. There is even more:
You said “And then we’ll start gathering the pieces.”
This borders on wishful thinking.”
I don’t agree with that...because I think God has a plan in all of this. And I am not alone. Hang in there. We are in for, as the Anchoress puts it....some “interesting times.”
Here is part of her take:
** [...] Relativism, with a dose of narcissistic self-actualization, has been redefined as a “tolerance” that will tolerate anything but intolerance, and those religious groups who insist on teaching the faith to an age rather than teaching a passing age to the faith are seen as too-intolerant-to-be-tolerated by the secular triune godhead of state, media and academia.
The challenges are only going to get worse because the society is in a habit, now, of dissolution and this election feels to me – and I emphasize feels, because this is just instinct talking – like a willful choice toward the here-and-now rather than [toward] eternity. It’s a choice fueled by feelings being given primacy over reason, a general lack of imagination, and a poor understanding of supernatural realities that – I am sorry to say – is partly due to the deplorable job the Church has done, for far too long, of teaching its members how joyful, affirming and fulfilling is the life lived in Christ, and in obedience to his Bride.
We have for too long allowed our Church to be interpreted and filtered through media outlets whose members are sometimes hostile, sometimes ignorant, sometimes both. We have permitted a sacred continuum to be perceived as out-of-touch rather than wise, and we’re paying for that – and the payments are about to increase.
But there is an opportunity, here. Last night I monitored reactions from people on social media and I saw many “people of faith” – Catholics and Evangelicals – being completely roiled by the returns and I kept thinking of Peter’s first Letter: “There is cause for rejoicing here. You may for a time have to suffer the distress of many trials; but this is so that your faith, which is more precious than the passing splendor of fire-tried gold, may by its genuineness lead to praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ appears.” (1 Peter. 1:6-7)
There is a great deal of genuine Christian feeling and desire out there, but it is immature – American Christians have for the most part lived comfortably the life of faith. I believe we’re being given a chance, now, to become mature in our faith – if we are willing to be open to the workings of the Holy Spirit.
That is a big “if”. American Christians have not gone completely untouched by the influences of secularism and the selfishness and self-regard it foments. “Thy will be done” still spins our heads because our training insists, “but what about what I want?” We don’t realize that what God wants for us is always better than anything we can want for ourselves. The Church has a lot of work to do; much to teach; voices to find. But I believe the Holy Spirit is bringing them forward. Welcome to interesting times.**
So, sitetest, I honestly believe that the roots of the American people ARE predominantly found in the Christian view...though our vines and leaves have become wilted and part of the plant diseased. The Good Vine-dresser is about to prune us...to make us productive again...in SPIRITUAL fruits.
For most American Christians, P and C alike, this is not a problem, because they believe, sincerely, that His will = what they want at the moment.
“It took me a long time to learn to put my trust in God....”
By saying this to me, I could readily infer that you think I don't. Be careful of the assumptions you make.
“I don’t agree with that...because I think God has a plan in all of this.”
God always has a plan. And God somehow figures out how things will be worked into his plan. So, when Islam wiped out nearly every trace of Christianity in the 7th century in what is now Saudi Arabia, I'm sure God's plan is in there, somewhere. But for the Christians who were wiped out,... well,...
Christians were annihilated in Saudi Arabia, in Afghanistan, nearly so in any number of other countries, and those that survived have lives under daily persecution, and have so lived for FOURTEEN HUNDRED YEARS in a lot of these hellholes under these barbarian savages.
I believe in God, I believe that He will save us ultimately, and that those who die in a state of grace will be with Him in Heaven. Doesn't mean the United States might not be completely lost to Satan for centuries to come. Doesn't mean there is going to be anything to pick up after the Kenyan anti-Christ is through with us.
Maybe there might be. Maybe there won't.
God's plan, God's grace, God's kindness, none of these imply, none of these require that the United States survive, or that it remains Christian, or that the Christians in America will survive, or that most of us won't be killed.
“So, sitetest, I honestly believe that the roots of the American people ARE predominantly found in the Christian view...”
That's nice. So were the roots of a lot of nice Christians throughout the Middle East, who, nonetheless are no more, or who have lived with over a millennium of oppression.
That may be our fate, here, and if it is, we will have to learn to live with it. Perhaps it will be God's will that many of us may be martyred. And at the Eschaton, all will have been for the best. Certainly.
But, like St. Thomas More, I never desired martyrdom, never sought it out. You'll forgive me if I don't face the destruction of what was once a decent society, of all that was good and decent in America, and of all those innocents who are being and will be destroyed in America, with a big happy-faced smile painted across my face.
It is permitted to mourn what is lost.
sitetest