This Holy Week I set aside Telegram, The American Sun, and all other sources of political discourse and news. Going to liturgy, the Bridegroom Service, Holy Unction, and the coming preparation for Pascha (I am writing this on Thursday, so you will see this post a few days after these words were penned), I have been struck with the marked difference between Christian hope and political despair. How often do we hear the declinist narrative? “Things have been bad, are bad, and will only get worse!” A person of this disposition—a disposition often habituated by “influencers”, journalists, and chat rooms—will notice that the present age has gone wayward, and then project the current state both backwards in history and forwards to the future. Notice how both the political right and the political left in America, being dismayed with the present age, conclude that America has been corrupt since her birth. Liberalism or white supremacy, depending on who you ask, was in the English womb that bore America. Making the observed phenomenon systemic, it is then acknowledged that any solution would have to be systemic also. From this point despair sets in, for systemic change seems unlikely if not impossible.
Christian Hope
Christian Hope
Christian Hope
This Holy Week I set aside Telegram, The American Sun, and all other sources of political discourse and news. Going to liturgy, the Bridegroom Service, Holy Unction, and the coming preparation for Pascha (I am writing this on Thursday, so you will see this post a few days after these words were penned), I have been struck with the marked difference between Christian hope and political despair. How often do we hear the declinist narrative? “Things have been bad, are bad, and will only get worse!” A person of this disposition—a disposition often habituated by “influencers”, journalists, and chat rooms—will notice that the present age has gone wayward, and then project the current state both backwards in history and forwards to the future. Notice how both the political right and the political left in America, being dismayed with the present age, conclude that America has been corrupt since her birth. Liberalism or white supremacy, depending on who you ask, was in the English womb that bore America. Making the observed phenomenon systemic, it is then acknowledged that any solution would have to be systemic also. From this point despair sets in, for systemic change seems unlikely if not impossible.