“May you live in interesting times” Ancient Chinese curse
These are interesting times. They’ve been interesting in the unpleasant sense that the Chinese meant, for a lot of my lifetime, but never quite so interesting as they are now.
Turmoil is the best way to put it – mankind seems to be swirling around in a whirlpool, rapidly being drawn down into a vortex at the bottom of which are terrifying and unknowable perils.
In an era where all people of good will seek peace, there is nothing but conflict – nation against nation, religion against religion, men against women, women against men, right against left, children against parents, citizens against their government – warriors against pacifists – life has become an arena of unending combat.
There is an undercurrent of hostility in all human intercourse. “Do unto others before they do unto you” is the watchword of our times. On the highway of life road rage reigns supreme.
At the root of all this is a simmering unease that grips the minds of the great mass of humanity. Peace comes out of certitude – chaos is the gift of uncertainty. And the curse laid upon us in these interesting times is mass confusion over the very nature of our beings and the reason for our very existence.
Those who know who and what they are, and who have some understanding of what life is all about possess a certain amount of blessed serenity. But those who lack a basic understanding of their own nature and the purpose of their existence live in a state of perpetual anxiety. And out of that anxiety comes fear, and fear begets suspicion of the nature and motives of others, and suspicion begets hostility.
What we are living through is in one way, a replay of the drama in the Garden of Eden. We are in a state of perpetual rebellion against the rudiments of our divinely created human nature. In short, we are acting out the sin of Adam and Eve. We have made ourselves our own gods, and in effect told our Creator that thanks, but we’ll handle things ourselves.
And that’s why our times keep getting more and more interesting. We are doing a terrible job of handling things ourselves.
As St. Augustine prayed to our Lord “You made us for yourself, and we will not rest until we rest in You.”
By that he did not mean eternal rest – the peace that awaits the good in the world beyond. He meant resting in the bosom of God in the here and now. He was talking about surrender of the will to Almighty God – a loving father who seeks only what he alone knows is is best for his children both in our daily lives in this world and what will help us to be united with him in the next.
Children who trust their fathers and mothers to act in their best interests are children at peace. They can gambol about and play without a care in the world. Mom and Dad are taking care of things. It’s only when they get older and understand that their parents are idiots who don’t know what life is all about that that chaos and confusion take control of their minds.
I have a small sign in my bedroom that reads: “Good morning. This is God. I will be handling all of your problems today.- I will not need your help, so relax and have a great day.”
It took me many years to grasp the wisdom of that advice. All those years of worrying and fretting and asserting my will against the Divine will – all those years of ambition and pride and self-serving – were needlessly turbulent and filled with chaos and confusion and fear which adversely affected my loved ones and all those around me.
When mankind begins to understand God’s supreme dominion over all things and the absolute dependence of everything upon him, – not a sparrow falls without his willing it, as Christ told us – mankind will find peace and the times will no longer be interesting.
Stonewall Jackson put it this way: “Duty is mine, consequences are God’s.”
Leave it up to him. He knows what he is doing, and just relax and have a great day.