The Indestructible Kingdom
Welcome to our 5th and final class in our “God and Government” series. Flaminio, Nancy, Jane, and Johnny talked to us about the need for the Kingdom of God, the arrival of the Kingdom, what happens when the Kingdom is absent, what happens when the Kingdom is present. Today I’m taking us through the last several chapters of Chuck Colson’s book, getting the name of our class from the final chapter – The Indestructible Kingdom. That description alone bolsters our faith, doesn’t it!
Our starting Scripture for today is one that reminds us of what Jesus said the Kingdom of God was like!
Mark 4:26 – 32 (NLT) – “He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.” Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade.”
Colson says that today’s enthusiasm for political solutions to the moral problems of our culture arises from a distorted view of both politics and spirituality – too low a view of the power of a sovereign God and too high a view of the ability of man. The idea that human systems, reformed by Christian influence, pave the road to the Kingdom, or at least to revival, isn’t much different from the utopian themes found in Marxism. It also ignores the consistent lesson of history that laws are most often reformed as a result of powerful spiritual movements. Colson says that he knows of no case where a spiritual movement was achieved by passing laws.
In order to explore this topic further, we’re going to do something a little different today and play “God and government” jeopardy – because no matter which way we look at the situation in our country today, I think we can agree that we ARE in jeopardy!
Colson maintains in his book as he did with the way he lived his life that Christians can and should get involved in political issues and social reform. He exhorts us to influence policies for justice and righteousness. But I think we all realize that we need to be very careful in how we as Christ-followers engage in the political arena. C. S. Lewis wrote (in “God in the Dock”), “The demon inherent in every political party is at all times ready enough to disguise himself as the Holy Ghost.” Tolstoy made a similar point: “Governments, to have a rational foundation for the control of the masses, are obliged to pretend that they are professing the highest religious teachings known to man.” That leads us to our first jeopardy category, “Perils of Politics”. Our other categories are “Resistance”, “Summer”, “The Political Illusion” and “The Indestructible Kingdom.” Who would like to read the first question?
Perils of Politics
100 – If Jesus were walking among us today, to which political party would he give His allegiance?
[Jesus’ allegiance, and our allegiance, is to the Kingdom of God, and not to anyone or anything else, including a political party! As representatives of the Kingdom of God, we must never forget that the transcendence of God’s justice must come before any political entanglement that marries Christianity to a political movement. The Church is not and must never allow herself to become just another special-interest group lined up at the public trough. History teaches us that just because someone is devout, it doesn’t mean they will be a just and wise ruler. Power can be just as corrupting – or confusing – to the Christian as to the non-Christian. And the results in some ways are more horrible when power corrupts men or women who believe they are representing God, and commit injustices in God’s name. The first test for public office should not be a spiritual one. The celebrated claim that “the ability to hear from God should be the number one qualification for the U.S. presidency” is dangerously misguided. Politicians, like those in any other specialized field, should be selected on the basis of their qualifications and abilities as well as on their moral character. We can look for the godliest and most able leader. This is what Jethro advised Moses to do in Exodus 18:21 – “select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes. Appoint them as leaders . . .” As a result, there was great peace in the land! Richard Neuhaus, founder of the Institute on Religion and Public Life and its journal, First Things, an ecumenical journal whose purpose is “to advance a religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society,” said, “the church can and should subject to moral questioning every political agenda or cause, thus keeping the entirety of human politics under the transcendent judgment of God.”]200 – Our sense of self-<what-beginning-with-the-letter-i> can get inflated when we are infatuated with our own influence?
[Christian leaders may overestimate their self-importance when they are courted by political forces. Delusions of power corrupt not only the individual but can greatly damage the cause of Christ. Some church leaders, in wanting to keep their access to political influence, have given up their objectivity and lost their voice and thus any possibility of holding government to moral account.]300 – Which political agenda aligns perfectly with biblically sound spiritual goals? *** DOUBLE JEOPARDY!!! ***
[Colson calls this the most dangerous snare for Christians in the political arena. It’s a sad day when the gospel is held hostage by a particular movement who believes the two are equated. Dismissive attitudes often follow, with criticisms levied at others, particularly other believers, who don’t see things the same way. We must have common grace for one another, which allows us to vote our conscience and what we believe is in the best general interest.]400 – Did Jesus give us any warnings about people in power appearing to be more devoted to God than they really are?
[In totalitarian regimes some officials are so unscrupulous as to feign religious interest simply to ensnare Christians. In Nicaragua, during the time the Sandinistas were in power, then-Interior Minister Martinez maintained two offices. When he was receiving churchmen or American visitors, he sat in a Bible-laden office adorned with crucifixes. When he met with government officials or visitors from socialist nations, he occupied an office displaying Marxist slogans and pictures of revolutionary heroes like Marx, Engels, and Lenin. Listen to Jesus’ warning as interpreted in The Message, starting at verse 13 – “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention. Be wary of false preachers who smile a lot, dripping with practiced sincerity. Chances are they are out to rip you off some way or other. Don’t be impressed with charisma; look for character. Who preachers are is the main thing, not what they say. A genuine leader will never exploit your emotions or your pocketbook. These diseased trees with their bad apples are going to be chopped down and burned. Knowing the correct password—saying ‘Master, Master,’ for instance— isn’t going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit. You’re out of here.’ These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards. When Jesus concluded his address, the crowd burst into applause. They had never heard teaching like this. It was apparent that he was living everything he was saying—quite a contrast to their religion teachers!”]Resistance
100 – Is there any instance in which we could at the same time obey God and not submit to governing authorities?
[Romans 13:1 – 7 (NLT) says, “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God. So anyone who rebels against authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and they will be punished. For the authorities do not strike fear in people who are doing right, but in those who are doing wrong. Would you like to live without fear of the authorities? Do what is right, and they will honor you. The authorities are God’s servants, sent for your good. But if you are doing wrong, of course you should be afraid, for they have the power to punish you. They are God’s servants, sent for the very purpose of punishing those who do what is wrong. So you must submit to them, not only to avoid punishment, but also to keep a clear conscience. Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do. Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “If government persistently and arbitrarily violates its assigned task, then the divine mandates lapses.” If instead of acting as God’s instrument for preserving life and order, the government does the reverse, and destroys life and order, then the church must resist. Though the church’s primary function is evangelization and ministering to spiritual needs, as the principle visible manifestation of the Kingdom of God, Colson emphatically states that it must be the conscience of society, the instrument of moral accountability.200 – Which biblical characters resisted government in a godly way and received the favor of God as a result?
[Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego . . . Daniel chapter 3 (NLT): “King Nebuchadnezzar made a gold statue ninety feet tall and nine feet wide and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon . . . Then a herald shouted out, “People of all races and nations and languages, listen to the king’s command! When you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipes, and other musical instruments, bow to the ground to worship King Nebuchadnezzar’s gold statue. Anyone who refuses to obey will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.” So at the sound of the musical instruments, all the people, whatever their race or nation or language, bowed to the ground and worshiped the gold statue that King Nebuchadnezzar had set up. But some of the astrologers went to the king and informed on the Jews. They said to King Nebuchadnezzar, “Long live the king! You issued a decree requiring all the people to bow down and worship the gold statue . . . But there are some Jews—Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego—whom you have put in charge of the province of Babylon. They pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They refuse to serve your gods and do not worship the gold statue you have set up.” Then Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage and ordered that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego be brought before him. When they were brought in, Nebuchadnezzar said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you refuse to serve my gods or to worship the gold statue I have set up? I will give you one more chance to bow down and worship the statue I have made when you hear the sound of the musical instruments. But if you refuse, you will be thrown immediately into the blazing furnace. And then what god will be able to rescue you from my power?” Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied [notice how respectful their manner of speaking is!], “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” Nebuchadnezzar was so furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego that his face became distorted with rage. He commanded that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual. Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and throw them into the blazing furnace . . . But suddenly, Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisers, “Didn’t we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace?” “Yes, Your Majesty, we certainly did,” they replied. “Look!” Nebuchadnezzar shouted. “I see four men, unbound, walking around in the fire unharmed! And the fourth looks like a god!” Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted: “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stepped out of the fire. Then the high officers, officials, governors, and advisers crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn’t even smell of smoke! Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego! He sent his angel to rescue his servants who trusted in him. They defied the king’s command and were willing to die rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I make this decree: If any people, whatever their race or nation or language, speak a word against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they will be torn limb from limb, and their houses will be turned into heaps of rubble. There is no other god who can rescue like this!” Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to even higher positions in the province of Babylon.”We can follow their godly example and remember to use good manners and the minimum resistance necessary to achieve the result.]
300 – Which American president resisted government by ignoring a Supreme Court ruling while in office?
[Abraham Lincoln. The church’s first duty in resisting government is to publicly expose the state’s immorality. In the 1857 Supreme Court ruling in the Dred Scott case, Abraham Lincoln saw it as an outrage for two reasons – firstly, because he firmly believed the Court was wrong in declaring that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves (or their descendants, whether or not they were slaves) were not protected by the Constitution and were not U.S. citizens. Secondly, in making this decision, the Supreme Court claimed authority to decide for the other branches of government once and for all what the Constitution required. In so doing, it placed the other branches in a position of inferiority and subservience – something the Founders specifically rejected. Once he was president, Lincoln ignored the Dred Scott decision. His administration treated free blacks as citizens, issuing them passports and other documents. In open defiance of the ruling, he signed legislation that restricted slavery in the western territories. Today we have become so accustomed to the notion that the courts at every level have supreme authority that we’re shocked at the very idea that a president or the Congress might stand up to the courts when they abuse their power. But we need to get over our shock, Colson exhorts us, because never before in our history have judges been so out of control . . . This is precisely the duty that Christians have always embraced: to be willing to stand for justice and in defense of a higher law, when the positive law is preventing the will of the people to be exercised, or when the law forbids the preaching of the Gospel.]400 – Which American evangelist refused to offer communion to slaveholders?
[Charles Finney. The church should refuse to have any part in the state’s immorality. If speeches, sermons and non-cooperation fail to deter the state, then the Church must take the next more severe measure of resistance so we’re not just talk and no action. We can use internal discipline and external pressure. Charles Finney is a good example of this – he refused communion to slaveholders. Finney, the “father of modern revivalism,” led a remarkable series of revivals in the American North East for almost 35 years, helped found the country’s first race and gender inclusive college, fought against slavery, the abuses of alcohol and played a role in women’s rights, and was the target of scrutiny for everything he did, said, or wrote. He was adored and he was abhorred and this only represents the reaction of the Christian community. We do need to remember, though, that no matter how evil a government is, we don’t have license to disobey any law, but only the unjust law. As ordinary citizens, our actions can open a crack of light in the dark canopy that envelops so much of planet earth. Through civil disobedience and resistance to evil, the Kingdom of God is made visible.]Summer
100 – What is the topic of our first summer series in our Sunday morning classes?
[The Hole in Our Gospel, a 6 week series in which we will be challenged to expand our personal and transforming faith into a public and transforming relationship with the poor]200 – What will the youth be doing in their Sunday morning Bible studies this summer?
[Karen Green & Nancy Ledoux will be leading them through a 4 week study called Jesus: the Filler of Our Souls, followed by a 4 week study for girls on Beauty with Becca Jones, while the guys do a 4 week study on Wild at Heart with Peter Sculley]300 – I never know which kind of class to expect on Sunday mornings – prayer or other – how does that work?
[Topical prayer classes are always on the 1st Sunday of each month. We just concluded a 5 part series on Mystically Wired at the beginning of May. All other classes are under the education umbrella, including this series on God & Government.]400 – What’s happening with small groups at the Atlanta Vineyard?
[Small groups have for the most part been on break or wound down, except for movie night at the Sculleys, which meets every Saturday in the summer . . . this fall we will be launching a new round of small groups following a survey of the congregation which begins today! Please pray about whether God would have you host or lead a small group!]The Political Illusion
100 – What did French philosopher Jacques Ellul, who coined the phrase “think globally, act locally,” call “the supreme religion of the age”?
[politics . . . The media encourages the political illusion – what people once expected from the Almighty, they now expect from the almighty bureaucracy – Colson labels this rank idolatry. News coverage gravitates to political power centers, exalting the momentary, exulting in suspense. The public waits expectantly for the next installment in the unfolding political soap opera. Our family took a tour at CNN a few months ago, and they had already set aside an entire studio dedicated to coverage of this year’s presidential race. I can see how visitors from other planets could mistake that room for an altar used in worship, especially since so much attention is given to the screen all over the world! Media and government are at the same time natural antagonists and natural allies, depending on each other for their influence. Because the illusion serves those with the power to perpetuate it, neither side wants to expose it. Policy has no meaning apart from how it is perceived, and that perception is heavily influenced by newscasters. When I read this, I thought, as Christians, we can partner with God in prayer and action to change the status quo from heavily influenced to heavenly influenced! Kingdom of God, come! To maintain the illusion, government attempts to shape, even manipulate public perceptions. Colson shares about the manipulation of public attitudes by politicians – when he served in the White House, following every presidential speech, Colson and his team would make up to 500 phone calls to key leaders in every walk of life, manipulating reactions (the vast majority were so flattered to be asked their opinions by the president’s office that even the cynics rarely offered a critical reply). I’m thankful that the message of the Kingdom is that God and God alone is master of life. Attempts to create alternatives to His rule are futile.]200 – On the basis of what expertise did Kevin Richardson testify before the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Environment and Public Works about environmentally destructive coal-mining practices in his home state of Kentucky?
[member of pop group, The Backstreet Boys, who have sold over 130,000,000 albums. Politicians, parties, committees regularly bring in celebrities to testify on this or that issue. Time magazine film critic Richard Schickel observed, “Celebrities have become the chief agents of moral change in America.” Sometimes the information spoken out on is misinformation. But expertise is no longer the first priority of Congressmen intent on both votes and attention. Media expert Eric Denzenhall said, “We’re living in an age of optics. Expertise does not photograph well. Julia Roberts does.” And what someone like Julia Roberts says can change, overnight, the way people view an issue. This is all part of the political illusion.]300 – What is news?
[whatever someone in power decides it is. One subtle danger of all this manipulation is that people no longer view their own circumstances as reality. Only what appears in print and on the screen is real. Jacques Ellul – “the man of the present day does not believe in his own experiences, his own judgment, and his own thought . . . In his eyes, a fact becomes true when he has read an account of it in the paper and he measures the importance by the size of the headlines.” We must learn how to think and teach other believers how to think – know what God says and confidently affirm it! And yet “the news” is limited to whatever some editor decides to include in today’s broadcast or newspaper. [Listen to this reflection on modern journalism from a seasoned reporter in a Randy Alcorn novel, “Deadline”: “I don’t even take the invitations to speak at journalism schools anymore . . . it’s a bunch of clones, an army of automatons. The saddest part is they think they’re thinking for themselves . . . Anybody who comes up with unpopular data or discoveries or ideas is like Galileo, a heretic. Instead of looking at the facts, researching and investigating them, we reject them because we don’t want to believe what they’re saying . . . We don’t like discoveries that could discredit our worldview. So we don’t listen . . . Young newspaper reporters are as indoctrinated as any religious fundamentalist. Most of them don’t know how to think. They come out of journalism schools believing a good story is any combination of homelessness, AIDS, crack babies, single mothers, and some social program that’s being unfairly cut. It’s formula news, just like romance and science fiction and westerns and gothic – it has to have certain ingredients. Stories have to have a victim, and if there isn’t a real victim you have to find one. People are never lazy and it’s never their fault. It’s always some businessman or landlord or citizens or the community who’s exploiting them or isn’t doing enough. We’re social workers masquerading as journalists . . . Fairness used to be our goal. But now we decide in advance which side deserves to be treated fair. To be fair to the wrong side is actually to do the wrong thing because their values could end up being advanced. And the ‘right side’ – we can’t critically analyze them because if we did, some readers might not sympathize with their agenda . . . It’s like storytelling. When your goal isn’t just to relate the facts but tell a good story, it’s a quick slide from fact to fiction. Reporters know a story has to be engaging and readable but it doesn’t have to be entirely factual. And once you depart from the facts, the writer’s moral prism inevitably refracts the story . . . We’ve ceased to be objective. We’ve become preachers, indoctrinators, propagandists. Just as much as the religious right. We’re not looking for readers, we’re looking for converts. We’re dispensers of doctrine . . . One of our basic goals in the old journalism was to train writers to separate themselves from their vested interests. Now we hire people precisely because of their vested interests. Some of these people are good reporters, but some are there to make the paper an arm of some cause . . . Advocacy doesn’t just happen in writing stories, but in selecting them . . . Journalism is no longer showing the world what it is. Now it is making the world what we think it should be.” (p. 260 – 263)]. Living in such an environment, the individual gradually loses all sense of continuity. Whether a policy is good or bad, a success or failure, is of no account; all that matters is the emotion its instant image induces.]400 – What major world event occurred exactly 1 week ago?
[I can’t remember, and neither can you. No one remembers from one day to the next. Images pile on images, day after day, anesthetizing the public so they feel individually impotent believing that all power resides in images they see on their television screens. This eventually erodes their own sense of political responsibility and makes them easy prey to the appetite of an authoritarian state. Jewish philosopher Hannah Arendt said, “The chief characteristic of tyranny is isolation of the individual, denying him access to the public realm where he would show himself, see and be seen, hear and be heard.” Incidentally, exactly one week ago, two of world’s 200 countries held presidential elections – Dominican Republic with a population of 10 million, and Serbia with a population of 7 million.]The Indestructible Kingdom
100 – What is a huge, seemingly hopeless problem in our world today?
[The world is full of huge, seemingly hopeless problems . . . current wars causing more than 1000 violent deaths per year are ongoing in Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, India, Syria, Sudan and South Sudan; sex trafficking, gangs, drugs, poverty, crime, materialism, AIDS, Internet pornography, illegal immigration, embryo-destructive research, cloning, Islamic radicalism, nuclear weapons . . . the list goes on and on . . . but “all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20 – 21, NLT)! Augustine – “That which man builds man destroys, but the city of God is built by God and cannot be destroyed by man.” When every political effort of men and their institutions has been frustrated, when the kingdoms of man are utterly impotent, it is then that the power of the Kingdom of God, in all its glory, breaks into the dark stream of history. And it is the citizens of the Kingdom of God who carry that light into the darkness – which cannot overcome it. Christians continue the witness of the indestructible Kingdom in the midst of their struggles. John 1:5 (NLT) – “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Hope lies in the fact that the Kingdom of God has come to earth – the Kingdom announced by Jesus Christ in that obscure Nazareth synagogue two thousand years ago. It is a Kingdom that comes not in a temporary takeover of political structures, but in the lasting takeover of the human heart by the rule of a holy God.]200 – Can we walk in the way of Republicanism or Democratism or Libertarianism or any other –ism and maintain authentic faith in Jesus Christ?
[It is impossible to walk the way of <fill-in-the-blank-political-affiliation> and the way of Jesus at the same time. One must override the other. Matthew 6:24 (NLT) – “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other.” We have to choose. When we choose the way of Jesus alone, we find rest.]300 – How can the rule and reign of God’s Kingdom be seen in our world today?
[by ordinary, individual Christ-followers loving God and loving their neighbor. The fact that God reigns can be manifest through political means, whenever the citizens of the Kingdom of God bring His light to bear on the institutions of the kingdoms of man. But His rule is even more powerfully evident in ordinary, individual lives, in the breaking of cycles of violence and evil, in the paradoxical power of forgiveness, in the actions of those little platoons who live by the transcendent values of the Kingdom of God in the midst of the kingdoms of this world, loving their God and loving their neighbor.]400 – What famous chorus reminds us that the Kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ?
[<let’s listen> And He shall reign for ever and ever! Hallelujah!! Thus in the midst of the dark and habitual chaos of earth, a light penetrates the darkness. It cannot be extinguished; it is the light of the Kingdom of God. His Kingdom has come, in His people today, and it is yet to come as well, in the great consummation of human history. Today, as we endure a tremendous clash of civilizations, we must remember the truths of the Kingdom. While the battles rage over the earth, we can take heart – not in the fleeting fortunes of men or nations, but rather in the promise so beautifully captured in Handel’s Messiah. Stop. Listen. Over the din of the conflict, if you listen carefully, you will hear the chorus echoing in the distance: “The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.” Listen. For in that glorious refrain is man’s one hope.]Conclusion:
The signs of the Kingdom of God are like a man planting seed. We do our part; but then God makes justice and hope and reform and righteousness grow. It is God who produces the signs of His Kingdom on this earth. We are merely the instruments.
We need to constantly be reminded that our efforts, vital as they are, will never bring utopia to this earth. The Kingdom of God transforms places of hopelessness in the kingdoms of man. Justice and hope can be found where there was once only inequity and despair.
In closing, let me read you a quote from author Malcolm Muggeridge who converted from agnosticism to Christianity in the latter third of his life: “Let us then . . . rejoice that we see around us at every hand the decay of the institutions and instruments of power, see intimations of empires falling to pieces, money in total disarray, dictators and parliamentarians alike nonplussed by the confusion and conflicts which encompass them. For it is precisely when every earthly hope has been explored and found wanting, when every possibility of help from earthly sources has been sought and is not forthcoming, when every recourse this world offers, moral as well as material, has been explored to no effect, when in the shivering cold the last faggot has been thrown on the fire and in the gathering darkness every glimmer of light has finally flickered out, it’s then that Christ’s hand reaches out, sure and firm. Then Christ’s words bring their inexpressible comfort, then His light shines brightest, abolishing the darkness forever. So finding in everything only deception and nothingness, the soul is constrained to have recourse to God Himself and to rest content with Him.”
