2020 saw the near-deletion of nearly all the worldly causes of hope. Whatever you most appreciate in your life - whatever you looked forward to - chances are it has been suspended with diminishing likelihood of its ever returning.
This is particularly despair-inducing in The West; because there is negligible other-worldly expectation of life-beyond-life.
(As the weeks go by, one after another slender loophole of worldly hope - of some-thing to look-forward-to - meeting family, a fulfilling career, holidays, hobbies, a social life, romance, sports, fellowship, real-education, singing or dancing, arts or crafts or culture... whatever - withers, is closed-off, and tied shut.)
When all institutions have been incorporated into a single, hierarchical and cross-linked, global bureaucracy (The System) - then there is no personal responsibility for any evil - and we are realizing that personal responsibility is the only real responsibility.
In a world where all decisions are ultimately underwritten by committees, by voting; then nobody is responsible for anything.
And when all institutions are part of The System, there is no possibility of replacing evil rule by something genuinely-better.
And since the problem is in the non-responsibility - then some other System is not an answer. And we are learning what should have been obvious; that individuals are not allowed to make a positive difference - because all judgment is ultimately ruled by committee.
Another aspect of the situation is that (because non-responsible) committee systems are intrinsically evil, hence destructive. They will always destroy The Good - overall and through time.
Therefore the mere operation of The System drives the world further and further into an evil for which nobody is responsible, and about-which nothing constructive can be done.
Hence the despair. And hence my name for this demonic strategy which has been unrolling for several generations: Project Despair.
The strategy was very simple: first remove all next-worldly considerations from life (God, the spiritual and creation) - so that people become utterly this-worldly; second, eliminate all this-worldly hope - leaving people with nothing.
To my intuition, despair is settling upon the world is a fashion that is almost palpable; as the reality of our situation settles in - and this is a despair for which (when people are honest with themselves, and this cannot always be avoided - at least unconsciously) there is no conceivable worldly solution.
In other words - logistics and practicality aside; people cannot even imagine, cannot even daydream, a way-out from the situation we are spiraling-down into...
The choice is stark: despair or Christ.
And Christ is necessary, but not sufficient - because each must work actively for his own destiny in this world; and for his own salvation in the next.
It may sound harsh, extreme, and counter-intuitive, but I have reached the conclusion that it is a sin to harbor any hope in the System at this point.
ReplyDelete@Fracis Berger
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping for chances to engage in some pleasant pastimes, but not in the system to provide them. I hope for them as one hopes for fair weather, nothing more.
And Christ is necessary, but not sufficient - because each must work actively for his own destiny in this world; and for his own salvation in the next
ReplyDeleteBut Christ is sufficient. Salvation is granted only by God.
You cannot demands your salvation. You cannot force your salvation in ways that are against God's plan.
One can only repent and ask God for mercy.
"Lord, have mercy, Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us."
It's there that despair dies. Faith, hope and love will carry us through.
@Paul - Think about what I have written, and what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteYou wrote: "Christ is sufficient", then you wrote "ask God for mercy".
"ask"
Think about it.