On God's Time

I had a serious birthday this past week. Collecting one's seventh zero tends to focus the mind, if a person is fortunate enough to still claim that faculty. Turning seventy years old is an occasion for deep reflection.

There are so many lessons in a long life, but perhaps the most significant is the importance of family. I've never possessed any remarkable amount of material wealth; I've never had any worldly power or fame. I can't say that I've missed having them. But even if I had been granted such grandiose things, I can't imagine they would hold a candle to the boundless blessings of children and grandchildren. Some good fortune simply can't be evaluated by any earthly metric.

By many standards, I'm what the world would call "lucky." I've got my health, I'm still working, I continue to enjoy my friends, reading, and learning. It all pales in comparison to the joy of family.

Yet my husband is dead for many years, and my children are successful adults busy in their own homes with their own children and family lives. It makes me wonder, exactly why am I still here? My new mission in life is to discover that answer.

Traditional translations of the Bible tell us that "threescore years and ten"--a fancy way of saying "seventy"--is a person's allotted time on earth. My father died at 70 (he once told me that he would). My mother soldiered on to the venerable age of 100 years. I like to say that if I can split the difference, I'll be very happy.

Regardless of how much life is left to me, the fact is that now I'm on God's time. My prayer is that I will find ways to make the best use of it.

A Prayer for Police Officers

St. Michael ~ Patron of Police* ~ carries a fallen officer to heaven.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.

from Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

*Also, patron of paramedics and all military.

Coming to Ourselves

One of the most famous stories in the Bible's New Testament is "The Prodigal Son." This foolish young man ungratefully rejects his father, demands his cut of the estate, and strikes out on his own. He is confident that he will do just fine without the firm foundation of his father's land and familial support.

After frittering away his inheritance, the runaway son ends up in starving and in dire poverty. He thinks about how his father's servants live a much better, more comfortable life than he is enduring, and he realizes his folly. As Luke 15:17-20 describes it, the son "came to himself." In modern terms, he snapped out of it. He realized he had made a terrible mistake, and he ached for home. He made the long journey and returned, fearful of rejection; but his father welcomed him with open arms and celebrated their reunion with a feast.

I see many parallels between today's United States of America and the Prodigal Son.

Although we live in the most prosperous, industrious, welcoming and successful nation in recorded history, many of us took our remarkable bounty for granted. We assumed it would always be so, and that it required no effort from us. As decades passed, we paid no heed to the increasing dangers threatening our unique society. With an arrogance worthy of the prodigal, we seemed certain we could manage any issue.

Now, after a year of continuously damaging events in our country, it appears that Americans are coming to ourselves. We get it now. We understand that dark forces have been undermining our values, laws, history, traditions--our very way of life--from within. You have probably heard and read as often as I have the familiar lament from fellow Americans--"I want my country back." Just as the prodigal yearned for his father's home, we long for the strong, safe, stable nation that was ours. 

I believe it can be ours again, if we decide to reclaim our home. It will be a long, hard journey back. But if we can do it, as in Luke's parable, there will be much rejoicing at the end.

Out With the Old

We've heard a great deal in the manufactured media run-up to Januray 6 about "the threat to our democracy." One commentator wryly but accurately noted that this ubiquitous phrase from the ruling elites really translates as "the threat to our oligarchy." That did make me chuckle. After all, how much say do we Americans currently have in the orders being imposed by our "betters" amid mask, vaccination, job, and school mandates? Rhetorical question, of course.

As for the protest-turned-riot one year ago, it was seriously wrong. Yet because we live in our broken human world, seriously wrong things happen on a daily basis. For example, this year I'd like to commemorate the fifth anniversary of June 14, 2017. If you don't immediately recall that date, it's understandable. The story of a radical left-wing extremist who tried to assassinate multiple Republican congressmen at a baseball practice was quickly buried and forgotten by almost all in media and government. Try to research it today and you will find precious little coverage of that particular "threat to our democracy." 

Democracy, by the way, is not our form of government--at least according to the US Constitution. Our Founders went to great pains to construct a government that would have the wherewithal to avoid the obvious dangers of mob rule. We live under the laws of a constitutional representative republic--barely so, by today's fallen standards.

This is the time of year to put away festive holiday trappings and settle in for the new year stretching before us. It's traditionally a season for resolutions, promises to oneself to improve upon the past. I resolve to look ahead, not backward. The media and radical ranters are welcome to keep harping on the past, but I want no part of it. The future beckons, free, hopeful, and open. I hope we can fill the days to come the same way.