My Thoughts
Just in case you are unaware, there is a pandemic circling the globe. Not the China virus, that is insignificant compared to the greater, infinitely longer lasting and far more deadly pandemic now upon us. Unlike the China Virus, which attacks mostly those who are at the highest risk, that is, the most likely to die from other causes, like from old age and those suffering from serious life-threatening health issues, this, yet, unnamed pandemic affects the whole person, young and old and every age in between, those in good physical health as well as those not so much, rich or poor, no matter their state in life. It is an equal opportunity killer; it kills the body, but most significantly, it kills the soul, the spirit, the humanity of anyone and everyone it infects. It is a slithering, sibilant slayer of souls, and sooner than later, it will come for you.
These past few days I have come face-to-face with this SSSS (pronounced like a hiss from a snake in the grass) and it is pure evil. Like the serpent, it cajoles the unwary, entices the gullible, and plays pity-pat on the heartstrings of the weak and vulnerable. I was met with three specific examples this week, all related but separate.
The first SSSS came in the form of a pharisaical Judas with a heart of stone and a mind snared in a steel trap. So convicted that he was the arbiter of right, the judge of judgment, the Don Quixote, righter of wrongs, he could not see himself for what he truly was: Wormtongue, the archetypal sycophant who hisses evil with every whispered breath. Such are never to be ignored or challenged for the fangs only grow longer and the bite more bitter. A snake is a snake, it can only do what a snake can do. Remember Genesis 3, the serpent was not killed by either man or God; there is a lesson to be learned from that though millennia upon millennia are between now and then and the serpent still survives.
The second SSSS came indirectly, hearsay, I say, but knowing the sources gives credence to the rattle. Some unsettled minds were wont to silence this pen, though being what they are, could not attempt to do so directly for that would take some heart which they do not possess. No, they suggested to another, rather slyly, that it would be wise for this other to cause me to cease and desist. Sorry to disappoint; I will not be so easily dissuaded.
The third SSSS is a strange disturbing silence, for reasons quite inexplicable. Perhaps you have felt it just as well, this silence in the face of this pandemic now overwhelming the world. Why the long and deadly silence of the spirit? The Church and its shepherds are vociferous, hissing commands and orders in lockstep with their secular masters and yet, not a word, not a sound, not a vowel, verb, or noun on the healing and feeding of their flocks. It is as if the shepherds have joined the wolves, enjoying the lamb chops while they last. Why is that? I wish I could say it is not so, but I can find no evidence to counter the argument. Where is the courage, the spiritual courage to protect the souls of their flocks from the forces of evil, from the serpent’s wiles, where?
Every day that passes, the flock falls prey to the enticements of the serpent, to the slavering salaciousness of the wolves. Every day the flock grows smaller through secular attrition; without worship, without a sacred place to freely worship, without in-person adoration and active, regular participation in Thanksgiving, Eucharist, the spirit dies a slow, unnatural death from lack of grace-fed communion with our Lord. Such food cannot be obtained through video, or in silence, or by obedience to the dictates of self-appointed potentates of the secular realm. Moses asked Pharaoh, not once, not twice, but ten times to “Let my people go.” By all appearances, the current crop of shepherds are unwilling to stand before Pharaoh even once, or heaven forbid, twice and demand that he “Let my people go.” Imagine how different the world would be if Moses had been like our present-day shepherds, wimps and whiners, not an ounce of guts to tell the Pharaoh where he could shove his dictates. Through ten plagues and forty years, Moses led his people, leading them both physically and spiritually, a true servant of God. Something to think about, don’t you think?
Wake up America.
Just my thoughts for a Friday for what it is worth.
Check me out on Parler @ChuckLanham #dadeacon #wakeupamerica
