“Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
1 Corinthians 1:20
Yes indeed! And what an excellent job He has done. Here we are, masked like rabid dogs, falling for fear and division, and bending the collective knee to the most farcical of false narratives. The quicksands of worldly wisdom would have us descend into the darkest depths of untruth and wrongness. And yet in the timely spirit of polarisation, the tangle of deceit that has been woven through all sectors of society is becoming increasingly palpable.
It takes more than the burying of one’s head in the sand to ignore what is taking place. It requires the entombment of the entire body of logic, reason and common sense, as well as the abandonment of the organs of feeling and intuition. It seems to me that these choices extinguish the loving spark that is present within every individual, the one that invites each one of us to care about what is real and kindle the flame of what is good.
The wonderful unravelling is underway! Last chance to choose Truth. Last chance to get right with God. Last orders at the Fallen Earth Saloon.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.
I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
This is a continuation of the reflective thread begun in the previous post (‘the misanthrope bows out’).
My youthful response to the repellent selection of ‘acceptable’ life paths on offer was to carve out an impressively colourful array of (attempted) ways out. The more notable methods I used involved detailed explorations of alternative culture and fringe activities, immersion in music as a temporary means of exiting self, and a plethora of unhealthy means of sedation and stimulation. There were periods of intensive travel that included the building of various retreat fantasies in foreign lands and the tactic of situating myself in remote, rural locations. I sought out breadth of experience, determined to find or build something decent and to ameliorate how deeply sad I felt on the inside. The haven of a lush, subtropical island, the peace of my own slice of rural woodland, the safety of distance from family and heritage….all of these were transitory balms to my inner fragmentation.
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them.I did not withhold my heart from any pleasure,For my heart rejoiced in all my labor;And this was my reward from all my labor.Then I looked on all the works that my hands had doneAnd on the labor in which I had toiled;And indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind.There was no profit under the sun.Ecclesiastes 2:10
With hindsight, much of what I was doing was simply an attempt to shield myself from the pain and disharmony that I felt around me. I wanted to create a place of sanctuary, somewhere that I felt safe and protected. My desire for solitude was an inversion of my desire for communion, founded in good measure on what Thomas Merton rightly articulates as a “frustrated need for human affection”.
In placing the search for comfort and sanctuary ahead of the search for truth, I had my priorities askew. I was destined for repeated, necessary failures. I had to explore futility in many of its manifestations in order to know those dead ends for myself. At times the journey was exhilarating. At other times it was pure hell. The more I insisted on seeking meaning apart from God, the louder and more aggressive the hurdles in front of me became. This continued until I paid attention, acknowledged where I was and changed direction.
“Truly, if you wish to transform all your poverty, then go to the abundant treasure of wealth beyond measure, and you shall be made rich. For you shall know within yourself that He alone is the treasure that can fill you and make you replete. ‘Therefore’, you should say, ‘I wish to come to you so that your wealth shall fill my poverty, your infinity shall fill my emptiness, and your immeasurable incomprehensible Godhead shall fill my base and wretched humanity.” Meister Eckhart
Today’s maze of futility is more of a puzzle than a nightmare. Though the discovery of further dead ends will continue to cause some unpleasant bruising, I feel hopeful that for every cul-de-sac reached, another piece of falsehood is being deconstructed. The need for escape lessens with each new step.
All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Being a walking question mark 