This may seem the least 'romantic' of times - and certainly it is the intention of those with power and wealth to make it so. They intend to make life a purely 'material' thing; with all that may be considered mystical, spiritual or magical excluded from significant discourse as being unreal, ridiculous and dangerous.
But this very fact makes these times potentially of the greatest possible romantic significance. If we can put aside preconceptions of a romantic life derived from aspirations of the past, and take account of the situation here-and-now, it readily becomes clear that the 'setting' of our lives - of each and every person's life - is now one of unavoidable spiritual conflict.
...Because there is a universal war being waged by the agents of purposive evil (who include those with the greatest power and wealth): a war against God, divine creation, Jesus Christ and indeed -ultimately - all that is good.
Everybody is under attack, nearly all the time; so we need not seek the battle. The war is come to us, wave after wave, day after day - and we must fight it or succumb.
It is a deceptive war; a war of evil pretending to be good; and a war of the inversion of true values.
Since it is deceptive; our weapons in this war are firstly discernment and understanding. To know the enemy and what he is attempting has significant value of itself - so see clearly ('clairvoyance') is our defence.
Yet we are not restricted to reactive defence - we can also attack, proactively.
Just as a single Man can take the side of evil - and can defy and reject God the creator and the salvation of Jesus Christ; so, on the other side; a single Man can reject, defy, and even inflict permanent damage upon, the forces of evil.
Whenever we think consciously and actively from our true and divine selves; we are participating in divine creation and change reality for the better: forever!
We can resist Hell; and we can also add-to Heaven.
The spiritual battle is real; and our defeats are just as real - and more frequent - than victories.
Winning is difficult because destruction is easier than creation; fear and despair are therefore among the worst and most frequent of our foes.
Every day we fail. Every day we need to recognize and repent our failures - and then keep fighting.
And sometimes we will succeed; although success is always temporary, judged by the standards of this mortal world... What we need to re-grasp every time is that - judged instead by the standards of eternal life; it is our successes that are permanent, and our failures which are temporary.
This possibility for modern living is open to anyone who perceives the nature of this world as a spiritual war, and himself chooses to take up the fight.
What could possibly be more romantic?
What a beautiful post! I truly cannot add anything else other than well said.
ReplyDelete@LM - I'm glad you liked it! It was intended to express (and induce) the positive, adventuring, sort of attitude to which I aspire.
ReplyDeleteI agree. These are exciting times. Things have rarely been as clear and straightforward as they are now. In light of this, I believe it will become increasingly difficult to not be romantic.
ReplyDeleteKeep doing what you are doing Bruce. Your writings have really expanded my mind and sometimes I find myself thinking back to one of your posts from months ago. I think this is one I'll go back to someday.
ReplyDelete@SS1 - Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Winning is difficult because destruction is easier than creation-
ReplyDeleteI feel like a giant hypocrite right now but i want to spray this on every side-alley wall, print it into every 'interestingly disfunctional resistance to dystopia' movie trope and make it real. It needs to be screamed and whispered from rooftops and speakeasy's and loud clubs. It needs to gently help people to sleep and abrasively wake them up.
Having been an observer and recorder to the late madness it is easy to lament and i have certainly been too passive, but the surrender we saw has been a tragedy that i still cant fathom.
@l - "destruction is easier than creation"
ReplyDeleteThis - in a nutshell - is why The Left has been 'winning' for decades, and continuing. If you invert values, and define destruction as success - there you have it!
The sexual revolution is a particularly clear example: destruction of marriage, family, reproduction, sex, sexuality, happiness, and motivation - all regarded as progress.