Francis Berger
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Despair is a Deathtrap

4/18/2020

6 Comments

 
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We are experiencing how a materialist culture and civilization that has turned its back on God responds to calamity.

Emboldened by a demonically-possessed elite, our civilization has rejected all meaning, religion, and tradition in the blind belief that materialism and the pursuit of pleasure alone would provide for and fulfill all of humanity's needs.

The problem is they don't.

And they never will. 

Possessions and pleasure serve a purpose in life, but are not and cannot ever be the sole purpose of life. The irony of possessions is this: you start off possessing them, but they end up possessing you. And no matter how much you love them, they do not and cannot love you.

Pleasures, though quixotically addictive and fun, tend to fade rather quickly if they are not supported by the primacy of the spiritual. The void left behind immediately demands newer and newer pleasures until the idea of pleasure recoils back upon itself, becomes utterly perverted, and becomes saturated with sadism.

What remains after possessions turn cold and pleasures run black? More to the point, what remains after these possessions vanish and pleasures are withdrawn? What is left when the material is snatched from the materialists?

Not much. Nothing, in fact - as many of us are about to discover.

This point marks the border of nihilism, the vast poisonous belief desert of nothingness which inevitably leads to despair.

What is despair?


The complete loss of hope; the anguish of believing all has been lost; the torture of believing nothing can be done to save the present or the future. Poisonous whispers of crossing vast, hostile deserts without water; of being trapped in limitless oceans with no land in sight. 

Despair is  ultimate surrender; bitter capitulation; agonizing renunciation. The abandonment of hope. The rejection of faith. The refusal of love. 

Against Good, a grievous sin. For evil, a most-coveted prize. 


Past societies had built-in safety mechanisms to combat such torment, but our modern society has contemptuously cast these aside thinking, rather foolishly, that the fight against despair is one it would never have to fight. And in the unforeseen event that it would, it was assured that materialism and pleasure alone would provide it with all the weapons needed to win the battle. 

Our modern society has been misled - and it has been misled in the most reprehensible and sinful manner it could possibly be misled.

People will be encouraged to despair as the wave of material catastrophe crashes over them - and many will find no other response than to despair. As their material worlds recede, they will allow the darkness of despair to corrode them until they crater like imploding stars and meekly surrender to evil the prize it seeks.

This why the rediscovery of faith, hope, and love are crucial - here; now. Faith, hope, and love are purpose and meaning and give us lives worth living and dying for. 

Faith, hope, and love confirm that we can never be defeated even when it appears that we have been. All three are crucial and all three are needed; perhaps now more than ever. 

Note added: This is a slightly modified re-post of an earlier post from this blog. 
6 Comments
bruce charlton
4/19/2020 09:53:44

I think from where we are Now, that to combat despair requires a solid belief in life beyond biological death.

Many people stave off despair by optimism about this-world (we are just-about-to turn-the-corner...), by assuming that 'things' are going to get better. For sure. Any minute now... When that becomes impossible to sustain, that will be their moment of truth.

Others survive by short-term distractions, mainly through forgetting oneself - in pleasure, media or intoxication. But lockdown removes many pleasures, and if/when the media are withdrawn or censored into mere propaganda, and when intoxicants run-out... then that will be a further wave of inducements to despair among those who recognise only this-world.

Luckily, the insight that life everlasting is the only satisfactory answer to despair is one that humans are capable of reaching spontaneously and unaided.

Then it becomes a matter of what kind of eternal life is wanted, then a matter of whether this 'want' true (whether it really exists) - finally whether it is attainable.

We need to be confident (I think) that individuals can follow this path themselves - from their inner capacities and from guidance by the Holy Ghost (which is there for all who ask and need).

This is our tough task, coming soon.

Reply
Francis Berger
4/19/2020 10:42:49

@ Bruce - Well put. I couldn't agree more. The promise of everlasting life as the antidote to despair is certainly something I tried to imply in this post - "lives worth dying for" / "never be defeated even when it appears we have been". I think I need to be more direct in future posts on this topic.

I have been wrestling with the subject of despair over the past few days. I feel motivated to write a few posts it, but it's been a struggle thus far. Like you, I can't help but feel this will be the next big challenge. I also suspect that many will not be able to meet this challenge. I am trying to figure out a way to address the 'inner capacities' you mention.

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Epimetheus
4/19/2020 15:48:33

I wonder if we ought to imagine Heaven with as much vivacious power as possible, after which - with Divine help - what is merely Imagined can become what is truly Known. Perhaps it’s not unlike a situation of divine lightning bringing inert clay to animated life - but in this case, the magic takes place within the human consciousness itself. Also, for some reason the transition from death on Earth to life in Heaven seems to be easier to vividly imagine, rather than Heaven itself. I think of the ending of the film Gladiator, for example, or the Train Station in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Eyewitness stories of Near-Death Experiences seem to be unusually powerful too.

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Francis Berger
4/19/2020 18:36:53

@ Epimetheus - Yes, that is an excellent way to think about it! The crux of the matter is to believe, and belief does entail magic at the level of the consciousness (at least what purely materialist perspective would consider magic).

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Jake
4/20/2020 21:50:21

So true.
My brother finally escaped the city to his homestead. He had called me saying that he was in so much despair that he couldn't even pack his bags! I told him to make some damn coffee, pack a bag, and get out of there.
Now he's had a good time on his land with my son and I. He's still rather a depressed person, because he still has no faith (he has a book called "How to Stop Drinking without God" on his shelf!), but at least he got to be around someone who has hope.

He still puts most of his stock in his wealth, however. If that diminishes with little hope of a rebound, I could see him going the suicide route. All I can do is show, by example, that you can have hope and find meaning in life without endless material satisfaction.

Reply
Francis Berger
4/21/2020 07:56:47

@ Jake - No one can be compelled to do anything against their will. The decisions we make are ultimately ours. having said that, I hope people will find the faith and hope required to see beyond material considerations in the coming weeks and months. I pray your example inspires your brother.

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