"While all around is changing, we must seek to remain immoveable..."

THE order of God’s Providence maintains a perpetual vicissitude in the material being of this world; day is continually turning to night, spring to summer, summer to autumn, autumn to winter, winter to spring; no two days are ever exactly alike. Some are foggy, rainy, some dry or windy; and this endless variety greatly enhances the beauty of the universe. And even so precisely is it with man (who, as ancient writers have said, is a miniature of the world), for he is never long in any one condition, and his life on earth flows by like the mighty waters, heaving and tossing with an endless variety of motion; one while raising him on high with hope, another plunging him low in fear; now turning him to the right with rejoicing, then driving him to the left with sorrows; and no single day, no, not even one hour, is entirely the same as any other of his life

All this is a very weighty warning, and teaches us to aim at an abiding and unchangeable evenness of mind amid so great an uncertainty of events; and, while all around is changing, we must seek to remain immoveable, ever looking to, reaching after and desiring our God. Let the ship take what tack you will, let her course be eastward or westward, northern or southern, let any wind whatsoever fill her sails, but meanwhile her compass will never cease to point to its one unchanging lodestar. Let all around us be overthrown, nay more, all within us; I mean let our soul be sad or glad, in bitterness or joy, at peace or troubled, dry and parched, or soft and fruitful, let the sun scorch, or the dew refresh it; but all the while the magnet of our heart and mind, our superior will, which is our moral compass, must continually point to the Love of God our Creator, our Saviour, our only Sovereign Good.

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (Part 4, Chapter 13)

Christ: the sign of contradiction

Among the truths that Jesus gave His Apostles before sending them out into the world to preach His gospel are the following: “Do not think I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace… He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me, is not worthy of Me. He who seeks his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake, will find it.” When He was presented in the temple as a baby, Simeon prophesied: “This child is set for the rise and fall of many and as a sign of contradiction.” Yet Jesus’ message is one of love and good will. He proclaims the Father’s love and the coming of His kingdom. He invites people to the peace found in life in obedience to His Father’s will.

The more faithful a Christian becomes the deeper the chasm between him and those who refuse to accept Christ. When it comes to a choice between family harmony and Jesus, members must value Jesus the divine source of their being and goal of their eternal happiness, infinitely higher than the most intimately loved parents, relatives, and friends. This often calls for cutting the bonds at the core of the deepest relationships. This is extremely hard to accomplish. Temptations of a psychological nature drive persons to preserve their dearest ties. But Jesus warns everyone: If you cling tenaciously to your natural life, abandoning Me for it, you shall lose your own eternal life. If you let your natural life go for My sake, you will find yourself enjoying divine, inexhaustible life.

Rev. Vincent Miceli, Rendezvous with God (pp. 159-60)

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly

 

Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

Colossians 3:12-17 (King James Version)

Induite vos ergo, sicut electi Dei, sancti, et dilecti, viscera misericordiae, benignitatem, humilitatem, modestiam, patientiam : supportantes invicem, et donantes vobismetipsis si quis adversus aliquem habet querelam : sicut et Dominus donavit vobis, ita et vos.  Super omnia autem haec, caritatem habete, quod est vinculum perfectionis : et pax Christi exsultet in cordibus vestris, in qua et vocati estis in uno corpore : et grati estote. Verbum Christi habitet in vobis abundanter, in omni sapientia, docentes, et commonentes vosmetipsos, psalmis, hymnis, et canticis spiritualibus, in gratia cantantes in cordibus vestris Deo. Omne, quodcumque facitis in verbo aut in opere, omnia in nomine Domini Jesu Christi, gratias agentes Deo et Patri per ipsum.

Colossians 3:12-17 (Clementine Vulgate)

Ἐνδύσασθε οὖν ὡς ἐκλεκτοὶ τοῦ θεοῦ ἅγιοι καὶ ἠγαπημένοι σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμῶν, χρηστότητα ταπεινοφροσύνην πρᾳότητα, μακροθυμίαν ἀνεχόμενοι ἀλλήλων καὶ χαριζόμενοι ἑαυτοῖς ἐάν τις πρός τινα ἔχῃ μομφήν· καθὼς καὶ ὁ Χριστὸς ἐχαρίσατο ὑμῖν οὕτως καὶ ὑμεῖς· ἐπὶ πᾶσιν δὲ τούτοις τὴν ἀγάπην ἥτις ἐστιν σύνδεσμος τῆς τελειότητος καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ Θεοῦ βραβευέτω ἐν ταῖς καρδίαις ὑμῶν εἰς ἣν καὶ ἐκλήθητε ἐν ἑνὶ σώματι· καὶ εὐχάριστοι γίνεσθε ὁ λόγος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐνοικείτω ἐν ὑμῖν πλουσίως ἐν πάσῃ σοφίᾳ διδάσκοντες καὶ νουθετοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς ἐν χάριτι ᾄδοντες ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ ὑμῶν τῷ Κυρίῳ καὶ πᾶν ὅ τι ἂν ποιῆτε ἐν λόγῳ ἢ ἐν ἔργῳ πάντα ἐν ὀνόματι κυρίου Ἰησοῦ εὐχαριστοῦντες τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ δι' αὐτοῦ

Colossians 3:12-17 (Textus Receptus; Stephanus 1550)

Sedition is opposed to the unity and peace of a people

Image: Statue of George Washington toppled in Portland, OR (Eric Patterson/KGW)

Sedition is a special sin, having something in common with war and strife, and differing somewhat from them. It has something in common with them, in so far as it implies a certain antagonism, and it differs from them in two points. First, because war and strife denote actual aggression on either side, whereas sedition may be said to denote either actual aggression, or the preparation for such aggression. Hence a gloss on 2 Corinthians 12:20 says that “seditions are tumults tending to fight,” when, to wit, a number of people make preparations with the intention of fighting. Secondly, they differ in that war is, properly speaking, carried on against external foes, being as it were between one people and another, whereas strife is between one individual and another, or between few people on one side and few on the other side, while sedition, in its proper sense, is between mutually dissentient parts of one people, as when one part of the state rises in tumult against another part. Wherefore, since sedition is opposed to a special kind of good, namely the unity and peace of a people, it is a special kind of sin…

[S]edition is contrary to the unity of the multitude, viz. the people of a city or kingdom. Now Augustine says (De Civ. Dei ii, 21) that “wise men understand the word people to designate not any crowd of persons, but the assembly of those who are united together in fellowship recognized by law and for the common good.” Wherefore it is evident that the unity to which sedition is opposed is the unity of law and common good: whence it follows manifestly that sedition is opposed to justice and the common good. Therefore by reason of its genus it is a mortal sin, and its gravity will be all the greater according as the common good which it assails surpasses the private good which is assailed by strife.

Accordingly the sin of sedition is first and chiefly in its authors, who sin most grievously; and secondly it is in those who are led by them to disturb the common good. Those, however, who defend the common good, and withstand the seditious party, are not themselves seditious, even as neither is a man to be called quarrelsome because he defends himself, as stated above (II-II:41:1).

Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica (II-II Question 42, Articles 1 and 2)

Subjection to princes and obedience to magistrates

Image: John Calvin (1509-1564)

“Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work” (Titus 3:1). 

Remind them to be subject to principalities and powers - From many passages it is evident that the Apostles had great difficulty in keeping the common people subject to the authority of magistrates and princes. We are all by nature desirous of power; and the consequence is, that no one willingly is subject to another. Besides, perceiving that nearly all the principalities and powers of the world were at that time opposed to Christ they thought them unworthy of receiving any honor. The Jews especially, being an untamable race, did not cease to mutiny and rage. Thus, after having spoken of particular duties, Paul now wishes to give a general admonition to all, to observe peaceably the order of civil government, to submit to the laws, to obey magistrates. That subjection to princes, and that obedience to magistrates, which he demands, is extended to edicts, and laws, and other parts of civil government.

What he immediately adds, To be ready for every good work, may be applied to the same subject, as if he had said, “All who do not refuse to lead a good and virtuous life, will cheerfully yield obedience to magistrates.”  For, since they have been appointed for the preservation of mankind, he who desires to have them removed, or shakes off their yoke, is an enemy of equity and justice, and is therefore devoid of all humanity. Yet if any prefer to interpret it without any immediate relation to the context, I have no objection; and indeed there can be no doubt that, in this sentence, he recommends to them kind offices towards their neighbors throughout their whole life.

John Calvin, Commentary on Titus 3:1

The cults of blood and race and nation

Image: Soldiers in South Sudan

“There has emerged a secularism which claims to represent the same high moral ideals that Christianity does, but without dependence upon the religious beliefs which are characteristic of the church . . . It is an atheistic movement which claims to cultivate moral ideals of the same value as those defined by the church.” This man-centered religion “has made man himself the end-all and be-all of existence.” And as long as man lives for himself the world will be filled “with the cults of blood and race and nation. And in so far as that doctrine continues to dominate Western thought we may expect the recurring horrors of war and revolution, because it is a doctrine whose logic deprives mankind of a common frame of reference and in the end sets every man against every other man.”*

Guy Franklin Hershberger, War, Peace, & Nonresistance (pp. 185-86)

* H. R. Neibuhr, W. Pauck, and F. P. Miller, The Church Against the World (Chicago, 1935) pp. 32-33; 110-11

The present secular civilization of western society is disintegrating

Image: Planet of the Apes (1968)

The evolutionary view of society, and the progress of modern science and education, seemed to argue for a growing human enlightenment to the point where war would no longer be possible. This view, however, did not give sufficient consideration to the sinfulness of man and his need of redemption. Furthermore, those modern students of society who are less influenced by the evolutionary idealism of the past century find little evidence in the scientific study of society itself for belief in an approaching warless world. Pitirim A. Sorokin, outstanding sociologist of our day, has shown that the curve of war in the history of the nations is at times upward and again downward, but he finds no evidence of a trend in a direction which points to the end of war. On the contrary, in the early 1920’s he predicted that the twentieth century would be the bloodiest of all centuries in history to date, although believing the upward curve would in future centuries again recede. Sorokin’s prediction was based on his belief that the present secular civilization of western society is disintegrating, and that such a period of disintegration and transition is always accompanied with much warfare.

It is generally agreed that our present civilization is extremely sensate and materialistic, and many believe that for this reason it is in the process of decay. As William Pauck has said, since the Middle Ages a worldly, materialistic spirit has steadily drawn our western civilization away from God until today it “is disintegrating because it does not correspond to the divine . . . order of things.” In the mind of this writer there is no hope for the future until men become willing once more to heed the voice of the living God. With this every Christian lover of peace must agree.

Guy Franklin Hershberger, War, Peace, & Nonresistance (pp. 12-13)

Cultivate the fruits of the Spirit

The ancients philosophized very little about divine things… The curious subtlety of the Arians drove the orthodox to greater necessity… Let the ancients be pardoned… but what excuse is there for us, who raise so many curious, not to say impious, questions about matters far removed from our nature? We define so many things which may be left to ignorance or in doubt without loss of salvation. Is it not possible to have fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit without being able to explain philosophically the distinction between them and between the nativity of the Son and the procession of the Holy Ghost? If I believe the tradition that there are three of one nature, what is the use of labored disputation? If I do not believe, I shall not be persuaded by any human reasons… You will not be damned if you do not know whether the Spirit proceeding from the Father and the Son has one or two beginnings, but you will not escape damnation, if you do not cultivate the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, modesty, continence, and chastity.

Desiderius Erasmus, Preface to his edition of the works of St. Hilary of Poitiers (1523)

Where is the image of Christ in your behavior?

Desiderius Erasmus

If you walk in the spirit, where are the fruits of the spirit? where is love? where is joy? where is peace toward all? where patience, long suffering, goodness, kindness, compassion, faith, modesty, continence, and chastity? Where is the image of Christ in your behavior? You say, “I am not an adulterer, a thief, a blasphemer. I keep my vows.” What is that other than to say, “I am not as other men, extortioners, adulterers. I fast twice in the week.” The humble publican in Christ’s parable, I tell you, and again I tell you, is better than those who recount their good deeds. Paul says “there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh.” May you then in kindness correct the erring, teach the ignorant, raise the fallen, console the despondent, aid the toiling, relieve the needy. In a word, let all your possessions, all your concern, all your care be directed toward the imitation of Christ, who was not born for himself, lived not to himself, died not to himself, but for our sakes.

Desiderius Erasmus, Enchiridion militis Christiani 

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The Handbook of a Christian Knight (Latin: Enchiridion militis Christiani), sometimes translated as The Manual of a Christian Knight, is a work written by Dutch scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam in 1503, and was first published in English in 1533 by William Tyndale.

20 Signs You've Made Politics an Idol

Let’s look at a root cause of all our political strife: idolatry. We’ve given politics and government a role they were never meant to play: solver of all our problems, provider of security, happiness, equity, and meaning. In other words, god. How do you know if you’ve made politics your god?

Here are signs:

1. Your hope in life is inextricably tied to a politician or your political party ‘winning.’

2. You look to a politician or party as a perfect savior who can’t do or say anything wrong.

3. You think a utopia is possible in this world if your side would only get their way.

4. You side with your party on every issue by reflex without thinking through a biblical perspective.

5. On issues Scripture doesn’t speak directly to, you claim God’s tacit approval for your party.

6. Your speech and tone in political discourse lean more toward harsh and angry than kindness and honorable (1 Peter 2:12; Titus 3:1–2).

7. You forget that your political opponents are eternal souls destined for hell without the saving grace of Christ.

8. You let politics steal your joy.

9. You would rather sacrifice truth and integrity than be out of step with what your side believes.

10. You think God trembles and His hands are tied when politicians impose anti-Christian policies. (He actually laughs; cf. Psalm 2.)

11. You are tempted toward violence to get your point across.

12. You never seek to understand how your political opponent thinks. (Why do that when you can call them a bigot [or a Cultural Marxist]?)

13. You blame all societal ills on your political opponent.

14. You can’t admit when the other party does something right.

15. You fail to acknowledge the false idols of your political party.

16. You look to politics to heal your deepest wounds.

17. You find your meaning for life in politics.

18. You hate the sin of the other political party but excuse it for those you support (or even in your own life).

19. You justify evil in the name of what works [or what’s right].

20. You think every one of your opponents is as bad as their party’s worst example.

Source: 20 Signs You've Made Politics an Idol https://www.kevinhalloran.net/signs-youve-made-politics-an-idol/