American in Decline, and in Need of a Shepherd

Western civilization had its beginnings in ancient Greece.  The breakthrough change that gave birth to the first democracy was the awareness and adoption of virtue, both personally and collectively.  This sea-change in human history gave birth to the notions of human dignity, the common good, and justice as the organizing principles of society.  The result, as we well know, was a major thrust forward in civilization bringing about advances in culture, the arts, the economy, and human flourishing.  Sadly, the Greek civilization of today has fallen far from its historically great origins.  National pride is a vestige of the past, based more in ethnic pride than the principles of self-sacrifice, self-discipline, and personal responsibility that were held in high esteem at the time of Aristotle.  The once-great nation that spread Western Civilization across Europe is not hopelessly mired in debt, brought about by socialism and the welfare state it created in an effort to appease a people more concerned about their federal benefits than the future they are leaving for their children and grandchildren.

Here in the United States, we seem to be headed down the same path.  The virtues that enlivened our country from its founding are all but forgotten.  They are being replaced by a lack of prudence and a redefinition of the common good that is anything but “good.”  The concept of prudence, or prudential judgment, seems to have been lost on our current national leaders.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes prudence as “the ability to recognize what is ‘right’ and what is ‘good.’  The virtue of prudence, or prudential judgment, directs all other virtues.  Without prudence, that is, knowing what is truly good, it is impossible to apply the virtues of justice, fortitude, and self-control."

Consider the changes that have taken place in our national culture in recent years, and ask yourself if these things can be in any way seen as “good,” and promoting the “common good.”  The sexual revolution of the late 20^th century separated sexual activity from responsibility for bringing new life into the world.  This change ushered in the idea that sex without responsibility is everyone’s natural right, and introduced the now commonly held opinion that any and all forms of sexual activity are perfectly normal.  This occurred while ignoring the many consequences extra-marital sex has on physical and emotional health.  Moreover, we now have a government forcing everyone to accept this new norm, even to the point of punishing employers and vendors who object to it on the basis of religious belief.  As further evidence of our declining sexual morality, consider the broad acceptance of the 50 Shades of Grey phenomenon, celebrating the cruel abuse of a vulnerable young woman.  How can that possibly be held up as ‘good’?   Now our public schools are teaching children that all this is the new normal, in total disregard for the damage it is causing to families and especially children, whose natural right to be raised by both father and mother is being disregarded.  As predicted by Pope Paul VI, there has been a huge decline in marriage and traditional family relationships.  This in turn leads to increased poverty, the exploitation of women, and a host of emotional and physical illnesses, e.g. depression and STDs. 

The culture of death, exemplified by the abortion industry, now promotes euthanasia, and most recently attempted to “justify” the sale of fetal organs.  Apparently the illogic of denying that fetuses are human, but recognizing the value of their organs, doesn’t occur to them.  Then there’s the growing acceptance of the drug culture.  Medical marijuana has led to the acceptance of recreational use of marijuana, despite common sense observations about the greater risk of escalating drug use and its effect on highway safety, work place performance, and anywhere else that impaired judgment creates increased risk, not only for the user, but others in their vicinity.

In the meanwhile, our president recently gave a speech talking about the importance of justice as he defines it: marriage equality, income equality, and rights for illegal aliens.  It seems he is incapable of acting prudently because his definition of the common good is so radically different from what we understood as the virtues that made America great in the first place.  Like the ancient Greeks, our founding fathers knew that our form of government would depend on individual citizens acting with virtue: accepting responsibility for marriage, family, and children.  They recognized the family as the most fundamental component of civil society and the path to the future.  Our economy became the most vibrant and successful in the world on the strength of the free market, people choosing freely among a variety of options, so that vendors with the best, most economical products, would compete to survive.  Hard work, perseverance, and self-control were the measures of personal success, not entitlement to government-provided sustenance, nor government interference to transfer wealth. 

Greece’s debt is 188% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and America is not far behind with debt amounting to 122% of our GDP.  No one seems to realize that this is not merely an economic problem to be solved, but a reflection of our collective decline as a culture no longer rooted in virtues, and incapable of effective prudential judgment. Justice, or moral leadership. 

With this in mind, as I heard Psalm 23 sung at Mass this morning, the meaning and importance of that plaintive prayer became more evident to me.  For example:

  “The Lord is my Shepherd...”  It is God’s leadership and law that we must follow, not the imprudent dictates of impotent leaders whose personal description of justice insults God.

“He guides me in right paths.”  God has revealed what is “good and true and beautiful.”  He created us male and female, and destined us to become families, so as to bring new life into the world in a culture of life and love, not a culture of self-satisfaction at any cost.

“Even though I walk in the dark valley, I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and staff that give me courage.” These are dark times in America, and evil pervades our national leadership, blinding them to what is truly the common good.  But I know that God is with me. He will give us the courage we need to stand up to the culture of death and speak God’s truth in the face of evil.

“Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord for years to come.”  Striving for prudence, and living a virtuous life is the true path to happiness.  Plato and Aristotle knew this truth, as revealed by natural law, a precursor to Christianity.  Jesus revealed this Truth by His life, death, and resurrection, bringing about our salvation, not in political terms, but more importantly, in what really counts.  Jesus has saved our eternal spirit which will live forever in the Presence of God if we follow the Good Shepherd, not the idiots currently running our nation into the ground.

An Example to Live By- My Mom

The older I get, the more I appreciate the importance of the great Truths I am still learning about life.  Sometimes I wonder how I could have gone through so much of my life unaware of the significance of these Truths.  As a child, educated in Catholic schools, I learned the basics of faith and continued the rubrics of my faith throughout adulthood, thinking all the while that it was enough to believe in God, follow the Ten Commandments most of the time, beg forgiveness for my sins on occasion, and devote an hour or so each week to devotion.  But for the most part, my life has been consumed by the busy-ness of life.  Earning a living, raising a family, maintaining homes, trying to find a little time to relax, time seems to have flown by.

Now that I’ve been retired 5 years, I’ve begun to understand that the Truths I’ve accepted on faith are far more important than I had imagined.  I am beginning to realize that God’s laws and the guidance of my Church are not restrictions on my freedom, nor do they constrain my selfish appetites.  Instead, they are the keys to peace of mind, and the gateway to true freedom, freedom from obsessions that, if unchecked, lead to anxiety, disappointment, and unhappiness.  Having concerned myself for so many years with the pursuit of happiness, I thought that success in this life would ensure that my wife and family would enjoy the fruits of our combined labor.  But as I look back, the happiest, most joyful moments in life were not the result of success, but rather the shared experiences of intimacy with those I love most in this life: my wife, our children, grandchildren, and extended family.  Indeed, moments of love and relationship are the greatest source of joy, far surpassing any other temporal pleasures.  I am just now beginning to understand that in those moments of transcendent joy, I was participating in, and enjoying the Kingdom of God.  In those moments, nothing else compared to the love I was experiencing, and nothing else mattered. 

In Sunday’s scripture readings, God commissions Amos to become a prophet and the people do not want to hear what he as to say because they are otherwise occupied.  Jesus sends the Apostles out to spread the good news that “the kingdom of God is at hand.”  Those who accepted the message received healing and peace, while others rejected it, perhaps because they were too busy with the activities of daily life.  No one can possibly know what constitutes the Kingdom of God in its fullness, but God has revealed that “it is at hand,” and that it is a Kingdom of Love, mercy, and forgiveness.  When Jesus proclaimed the beatitudes, He was describing that kingdom where peace, love, and mercy prevail.

This is not, as so many skeptics claim, ‘pie in the sky.’  I am just now coming to realize that we are surrounded by the kingdom of God, by His Love and Mercy, if only we open our eyes and ears and hearts to the Truth God has revealed.  That Truth is summed up by the twofold command of loving God above all else, and loving others as we love ourselves.  Jesus is the perfect example of this love, in that He obeyed His Father explicitly, and loves all of us sacrificially, even to the point of death.  In doing so He wrought our salvation.  Embracing Him and His loving sacrifice opens us up to His saving grace, His Presence in our lives, and in effect we have the opportunity to enter into the Kingdom of God, right here, right now.  His is a kingdom unbounded by spacetime, meaning it is not a specific or distant place nor in a separate time.  The kingdom of God encompasses all space and all time.  The fact that we cannot perceive it in the here and now, makes no difference to its existence.  As Jesus Himself said, many ‘have eyes but do not see, ears, but do not hear’.  We are too often preoccupied by our selfish pursuits to see what is right before us and around us all the time:  the Love of God.

What got me thinking about all this, is that my mother is nearing the end of her life.  She’s 91 years old and in failing health, getting weaker by the day, literally fading away.  It is hard to witness, but at the same time inspirational, because of her strong faith and courage in the face of death.  She has long been a powerful witness to the Presence of God, not only in how gracefully she has accepted her gradual descent into frailty, but in her unfailing commitment to the Holy Spirit.  For as long as I can remember, she has told me that the Holy Spirit gave her the strength to raise eight children, to care for Dad during his long bout with Alzheimer’s disease, and more recently with her many physical infirmities. 

Having retained all her mental and spiritual faculties, mom is fully aware of her declining health, but seldom complains about the many indignities she has endured, as the result of illness, accidents, and the ravages of old age.  She has kept her sense of humor, her grace, and her dignity, not by dint of personal effort she says, but because of the Presence of the Holy Spirit in her life.  Until recently, she has attended daily mass and Communion.  Now she can only watch on closed circuit TV.  She prays the rosary, usually twice a day, not for herself, but for her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and one great-great grandson.  Until just a few weeks ago, she prepared over 100 birthday and anniversary cards every year, wanting her progeny to know they were loved and prayed for continuously. 

The great Truth I’ve learned from mom’s life, is that loving God is the source of true peace and happiness.  If there’s one word that mom would use to describe her attitude, even now, it is “grateful.”  She has told me over and over again, “how lucky” she has been to be so loved, and to have such a wonderful family.  She is living in the love of God, here, now, in the midst of her daily struggles with oxygen, weakness, and illness.  Despite her failing eyesight and hearing, she “sees and hears” the Truth of God’s love, present throughout her life, and especially now in the twilight of her earthly life.  Her greatest joy is knowing that soon she will leave all her infirmities behind when she is released from the constraints of spacetime to enjoy the fullness of the Kingdom of God.

Independence Day and the New Law of the Land

As our country celebrated its 239^th year of freedom from the tyranny of England, it occurs to me that we are surrendering that hard fought freedom in a gradual descent into a new brand of socialism that promotes an ideology of radical autonomy.  The promise of no consequences to a departure from morality is buttressed by the guarantee of government regulation and assistance to ensure that everyone is taken care of, and income equality is attained, regardless of ability, effort, or poor decisions.  As evidence of this changing moral landscape, consider our public schools.  In Washington State, students are not allowed to purchase soda or candy, but are offered free  Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives, (LARCs) including IUDs, and hormonal implants, without parental consent, from sixth grade and up. The program, ironically called Take Charge, makes no mention of the possible serious side effects and risks associated with these devices, nor the fact that IUDs work by causing spontaneous abortion of fertilized eggs. In effect, what our schools are teaching kids is that they cannot be trusted to exercise good judgement or self control with regard to their diet, much less practice sexual continence.  Rather than taking charge of their behavior and morality, they are offered government assistance in keeping their parents in the dark about their sexual activity and its consequences.

After last week’s SCOTUS decision on gay marriage, the US Department of Education changed their web page to a rainbow theme, celebrating gay marriage which it undoubtedly will continue to teach as the new normal.  The public schools are inculcating children with the ideology of the left which is unable to perceive the Truth about human sexuality, and has no intention of tolerating dissent on the basis of religious belief.  In the euphoria surrounding the new law of the land, no one seems to have noticed that we have also surrendered the most basic tenet of our democracy: self-governance.  The very first provision of our Constitution stipulates that only Congress, the representatives of the people, can pass laws.  Nevertheless, the vast majority of law under which we now live, is being written not by Congress, but by administrative agencies and by judges.  Hundreds of thousands of pages of administrative law is now on the books, promulgated and published by the departments of Health, Environmental Protection, Education, Commerce, Treasury, Agriculture, etc.  On top of this, the Judiciary no longer merely interprets and enforces law, they establish precedent on the basis of their own ideologies and imagined rights that appear nowhere in the Constitution.  In many cases federal courts override actual laws that have been passed by State Legislatures and even Congress (e.g., DOMA, the Affordable Care Act, Immigration law, etc.).   This is no longer government by the people; it is government by dictate, in the hands of a small number of people who have usurped power that was never intended by the Constitution.  In fact the Constitution goes to great length to expressly prohibit such a takeover.

Historically, much of this goes back to FDR, who, in his famous “… the only thing we have to fear is fear itself” speech, also declared himself the sole ruler of a greatly expanded government.  He then set up numerous departments authorized to regulate much of American life.  His meddling in the economy is acknowledged by economists to have delayed recovery from the Great Depression by as much as 6 years.  When the Supreme Court tried to put limits on FDR’s power grab, he pitched a royal fit and threatened to have them all removed and replaced.  Now we have Democrats like Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Bill deBlasio offering a socialist agenda they call the “new contract with America,” (kind of like ‘the New Deal”).  The centerpiece of their platform is to raise the minimum wage and “invest in schools, not jails.”  Despite obvious evidence from Washington and California where minimum wages have been raised to the detriment of small businesses, and resulting in numerous business failures, job losses, and companies fleeing their state, Democrats insist on foisting this blunder on the rest of the country.  In a weird bit of irony, the Los Angeles Federation of Labor lobbied for the California minimum wage hike, but insisted that they be exempted from it because, as their presidents said, “If a business owner and employees negotiate an agreement that works for them, it’s nobody else’s business.”  The trio of Dems’ other big idea is to dump even more money into our failing education system, as if that has worked so well in the past.

As I looked over the scripture readings for last Sunday, a couple passages stood out.  When God called Ezekiel to become a prophet, He warned him that the people had rebelled against God.  “Hard of face and obstinate of heart are they to whom I am sending you.”   In Sunday’s gospel when Jesus was in His home town, “They took offense at Him.”  There is a certain Order to creation, established by God who brought everything into existence out of nothing, and from primordial chaos into incredible order and complexity.  Despite how awestruck we are with the beauty and intricacy of the order of nature, an ideology of radical autonomy prevents many of us from seeing God’s Truth, including the nature of our sexuality as revealed in our bodies, and the amazing dignity of every human life.  Pointing this out now often results in repudiation and condemnation.  It is not enough to “tolerate” the views of others, the government and courts insist that we must support the liberal agenda by participating with our businesses and our tax dollars, despite religious convictions that prescribe otherwise.   Just a few days after the SCOTUS gay marriage decision, the US. Department of Equal Employment Opportunity certified “justifiable cause” in the case of a gay teacher who was fired by a Catholic school when he married his partner.  The courts will now decide whether or not the Catholic school has violated the law of the land.

At this point, about all we can do is pray and work toward electing a conservative majority and president next year, in hopes of reversing some of this madness.  Here’s an excerpt of an Independence Day prayer from Cardinal Dolan that sums up our needs and hopes quite nicely:

“May we know the Truth of your creation, respecting the laws of nature and nature’s God, and not seek to replace it with idols of our own making.  Give us the grace not to cast aside the boundaries of righteous living you first inscribed in our hearts even before inscribing them on tablets of stone.  May you ‘mend our every flaw, confirming our soul in self-control, our liberty in law’.  Most of all, Almighty God, we thank you for the great gift of our beloved country.  For we are indeed ‘one nation under God,’ and ‘in God we trust’.  Dear God, bless America.  Amen.”