2020 was the year in which things stopped 'coming to a point' and actually arrived at the point. Life became a binary choice: the primacy of the spiritual, or the monopoly of the material; God on one side, Satan on the other.
The actual 2020 was all about the spiritual war; but its true nature was disguised mostly as a fake-war against the fraudulent-birdemic, plus a period of war against 'racism'; and - throughout - wars against a supposed 'climate emergency', and in favour of sexual revolution.
It was a war that Satan won almost completely - in the public sphere of the institutions and their communication; and therefore that the side of God and The Good lost almost completely.
Indeed 2020 was by far the most catastrophic year ever for the Christian churches (so far as we know); with all shut for extended periods, with abolition of mass, sacraments, assembly, singing, visiting and the other genuine church activities.
(Obviously; Watching Stuff Online is Not a genuine church activity).
What was much worse: all this was implemented with enthusiastic zeal by church authorities.
What was much worse: there was extremely-little evidence of 'compensatory' individual faith or hope on view.
So, the Alternative 2020 was one in which Christians (without even needing to think about it - because it was so clear and obvious to them) reacted to the birdemic with an uncompromising assertion of the primacy of the spiritual.
If the churches were (nonetheless) forcibly closed, and essential activities were suspended; the clergy and laity would have been continually stating that this was unacceptable.
Frequent notices to this effect would be read-out in church, posted on the doors, distributed by media, shared and endorsed widely, made the subject of prayer - And whenever and however meetings could be arranged; this would be reinforced.
So, as 2020 comes to its close; instead of a world in which all public institutions are on-side (on the one-side) with the Global Establishment totalitarian agenda of social and civilizational destruction and mandatory materialism...
Instead of this there would be two sides.
On one side would be the Global Establishment; and on the other side, and the only significant institution to be on the other side - would be the Christian churches and a great mass of self-identified Christians.
That is the Alternative 2020: a world where things came to a point and the choice became binary - but in this Alternative world, Christians and their churches (en masse) chose the side of God!
Rather than what actually happened In Real Life, where they joined-with Satan.
My father, now passed, was an engineer of the old fashioned sort. I'd often watch him use an antique 1930s lathe to mill beautiful objects from slabs of dull, featureless aluminium and steel.
ReplyDeleteI can't call myself a wise man, but I can tell you that if you want to "reach a point", it's my experience that you'll require a lot of wasted metal.
Although I loved the man very much, I've come to realise that his (and my family's) strong analytical mindset and multi-generational atheism have had disastrous consequences.
I've always been more of the daydreaming sort, and have held a strong sense of romantic Englishness even since I was a child.
However, I've always struggled with my faith. Not least because Christianity always appeared alien and foreign to me.
A combination of a profound supernatural (I feel silly saying that) experience at the end of last year, combined with finding your blog, and of course seeing the clearly defined battle lines of the Birdemic, has helped me enormously on my path.
I can't say I'm anywhere near there yet, but looking around me, I have an unshakable sense of "what I am not".
Anyhow. Long ramble aside, thank you for everything you do here.
Merry Christmas.
I recall a Latin adage of St. John of the Cross: "Nemo repente pessimus." (no one becomes the worst suddenly). It seems that many bad things happened in 2020, but I rather think the situation that long existed merely had its veneer stripped away. This is why the churches complied so readily with the global establishment: they were already subservient to it. And most people are not fervently religious, nor has this ever been the case. The Reformation succeeded where the rulers endorsed it and failed where they did not and the people played follow-the-leader as usual. Those who recognize reality as essentially spiritual are not playing follow-the-leader and they will be punished for it. The old Soviet Union did not so much collapse as become diffused. We are all Russians now and some of us are heading to the Gulag. We will need much courage and holiness to survive spiritually. This morning, I did not want to get out of bed. I haven't felt like than since I was a young man and lost in hedonistic despair. Forgive the personal note, but I imagine I am not alone and that many may be experiencing a sense of revulsion toward the world and a desire to ignore it or escape from it. It's truly a wasteland now.
ReplyDelete@edwin - The world has changed vastly in this respect, and people now are completely different from how they used to be - even 200 years ago.
ReplyDeleteHistorically - for *many* people, their religion was the most important thing in the world. And people sacrificed time, money, houses, jobs, lives - were tortured... rather than cease their religious practices.
e.g. the Scottish Disruption of 1843, large numbers of (national elite) Professors and Ministers gave up their salaried jobs, and Established social status, to leave and form a new church from scratch, new colleges etc.
But I think you are referring to the fact that past religion was inevitably communal, and those who made sacrifices knew they were solidly supported by co-religionists. That is what has changed. Ultimately I understand it as an 'evolution of consciousness' phenomenon.
David - Thanks.
ReplyDelete" I have an unshakable sense of "what I am not"."
Maybe that is what is needed? So long as this mortal life continues, we are meant to be learning - and so perhaps we are not meant to have a stable and sharply defined sense of 'what we are' - but instead to be developing that according to our situation.
I never comment here but found the post thru' comments at the Orthosphere. I can only say "Amen." The priests, pastors, etc., should have been out there like John MacArthur and Doug Wilson (whatever else you may think of their theology) saying loudly, "I will not submit" and telling everybody that they were going to go on meeting in incarnate worship until shut down forcibly and carried out feet-first. This was the message needed. The most astonishing thing is that as far as I know MacArthur is a memorialist on the Sacrament but has a stronger sense of the importance of incarnate meeting than many sacramentalists. (I think Wilson is a sacramentalist of some sort, being a Presbyterian of some sort.) Wilson has been positively profound on the issue of masks and the significant of the human face. I've been very pleasantly surprised. There are of course other individual churches doing this, and I read recently that a Catholic priest in Wales stated publicly that he will not deny his parishioners the Sacrament again and repents of doing so in the Spring. I haven't found out what happened to him in the new lockdown in the UK. Betcha anything his bishop betrayed him, but maybe that's just my cynicism speaking.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, we should also remember that there are people meeting quietly in private homes, and probably some even opening churches, defying the orders against gathering but advertising it by word of mouth and the like so as to be able to keep on ministering the Word and (where applicable) Sacrament. In other words, somewhat of an underground church is tentatively forming in the West. That it should have come to this in one short year is horrifying. That it is happening at all, in however embryonic a form, is heartening. Unfortunately, in the nature of the case, you can't Google and find out more about that, though there was a UK story about it recently with names omitted. Let me see if I can find the link... Yes, here it is. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/22/let-us-disobey-churches-defy-lockdown-with-secret-meetings
So let that encourage you.
Well, my computer is behaving strangely suddenly, so I'll see if this comment posts properly.