Bill's Notes

[Bill, June 3, 2009]
Earth 2100
We're all gonna die! Help! Help! There's no place to hide ... nowhere to run ... all over if we don't do something RIGHT NOW about GLOBAL WARMING!

If you accept manmade global warming, then I imagine things will unfold pretty much the way they said. As I've written in other posts, man isn't going to give up fire.

But this got me thinking ... you know, there's a lot of apocalyptic thinking going on lately. I mean, these last few years haven't exactly been Jack Kerouac heading up to Big Sur and, if not thinking the Big Thoughts, certainly thinking the Rapid Thoughts.

This apocalyptic thinking extends to ... well, me. First of all, we're in the first decade of a new century. That gets us thinking about the new century. It ain't like the 90s, when we were thinking, well, maybe we can get through these last few years without killing ourselves. It was a peaceful, prosperous decade, those 90s, a simpler time ... except for the genocides in Rwanda and Yugoslavia. Those were sure unpleasant.

So we're thinking the last century, and it seems the demons are still haunting us: Communism. Fascism. Carterism. Lots of -isms.

There are a group of folks on the Left who are petrified of Global Warming, Capitalism, White Males, and a strange puritanical fear that somewhere, someone might be having a good time.

But lately I've noticed a group of folks on the right who are turning into right-wing caricatures of those on the left.

But it's not just limited to the left and right. And religious zealots of all types. We're gonna end up in camps (pick who's running the camps.) We're gonna starve to the death in the dark. It's all going in the shitter unless you follow my agenda.

LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE!

Granted, there is a sense of foreboding. I've had it for years. A sense the party's over. But shit, as Americans, it's not like it's been that hard for us. I've been near homeless, broke for years, lonely, depressed, etc., and yes, it sucked. But there's always hope.

I'm now going to tell you a piece of truth. You may not like to hear it, but it's the ultimate political truth. There is no permanent political solution to mankind. Say a virus kills off all the liberals. Tomorrow, the libertarians and the conservatives start dividing.

There is one solution ordained by God: That is the Gospel of Christ.

"If you are the son of God, make these stones become bread."

"Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the living God."

That's the political error. Cultural change must precede political change. The reason we're in this mess is we're shitcanned a whole lot of terrific cultural values in the name of emancipation, and the ancient demons are coming out of their haunts to ... yes, haunt us. We are suffering, as a country, from a crisis of conscience. Left and right. An apocalyptic desire comes from a desire to be destroyed ... from a perverted sense of justice. We are bad, we must be punished, we all need to be punished.

Why do we, as Americans, suffer from a crisis of conscience. Because we've been bad, and we don't feel forgiven. That's why. But if we follow this or that agenda and we're all good, maybe our consciences will give us a break.

It don't work that way.

We need the life that comes from the Word of God. And live it. We must learn from God, and carry out His commandments. If we think the right thoughts, and don't carry it out, we fail. If we act the right way, but don't communicate the right values, we fail. If we seek to feed the world without cultural change that allows people to feed themselves, we fail.

Lately, you know, I've been thinking about the undermining of cultural values, and my own role in undermining them. Hey, I thought I was having a little fun. I didn't realize what was really going on.

Lighten up. Me included.

Deep breath. Gratitude. Faith. Hope. Charity. These are the answers.
John (mail):
Bill I think that our feeling bad should not as much be considered such a terrible indication that we've been bad as a hopeful sign that we still fear God. I would be much more concerned if we all felt great or at least unconcerned about our actions and inactions. As far as a crisis of conscience go i've got to tell you that as a RC these feelings are part of the path. A good sign that we are still in communication with God and are being made aware of our transgressions. None of us are perfect and it's by grace alone that we can hope to achieve salvation not by our own agenda. Loving God and being aware of his presence in our lives as well as in the lives of all people is the key. IMHO but then again I could be wrong :)
6.3.2009 7:36am
Bill (mail) (www):
Those are some good points, John. I appreciate the insight.
6.4.2009 1:27pm
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