Francis Berger
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The Joy Evil Ceaselessly Attempts To Obscure

6/9/2020

3 Comments

 
Some readers of this blog might assume I am nothing more than a cantankerous curmudgeon whose only pleasure in life comprises being infinitely irritated by the ever-intensifying inanities and insanities with which evil infests the world.  Well, in all fairness, those assumptions are not completely groundless. I can get quite cantankerous and irritated when it comes to evil - especially these days - but this does not imply that I ever let evil get the upper hand.

I believe Christians are spiritually and morally bound to walk a rather perilous line in this mortal life. On the one hand, we must remain vigilant about and alert to the presence of evil in our midst and, more significantly, to the evil within ourselves. In addition to the trials, tribulations, and suffering we all must endure at various points throughout our lives, we must also be able to recognize, resist, condemn, and confront evil whenever and wherever we encounter it. Contrary to contemporary belief, our duties do not entail making accommodations for or compromises with evil. Nor are we obliged to tolerate, permit, or condone evil. If and when we do, we are obliged to repent our sins in much the same manner we are obliged to forgive those who genuinely and sincerely repent their own sins. On the other hand, we must not allow our recognition and awareness of evil to drive us to fear or despair. One of the key ways evil tempts us to fear and despair is by constantly working to darken or obliterate our joy.

Considering current circumstances, the mere mention of joy may seem out of place for some, but for true Christians, joy can never be out of place, not even during the darkest and most agonizing of times. This is the divine essence of the cross - the great triumph rising from the depths of seeming ruin. And if you remain open and perceptive to this triumphant joy, you begin to sense that it permeates the world in all that is true, beautiful, and virtuous. Much more than mere comfort or delight - joy fuels fascination and enchantment. It creates the capacity for realization - the comprehension that we belong to Divine Creation, and as such, are divine creations ourselves; divine creations who possess the potential to join Divine Creativity. 

Evil ceaseless aims to strip us of our joy; to dull the sense of enchantment; to dim faith and hope; to severe our connection to Divine Creation and our connection to our own divine selves. If evil cannot vanquish the joy within us outright through fear, hatred, and despair, it will work to dilute our joys into vulgar pleasures. This method entails a longer route, but the end destination remains the same. Evil wants us all to shun the great triumph altogether and embrace only the ruinous depths.

Above all else, evil demands we abandon the joy that leads to heaven. I personally cannot conceive of anything more malevolent and baleful, which helps explain why I often come across as curmudgeon in my posts. In my defense, I believe high stakes render my belligerence excusable and forgivable. In any event, I never allow my antagonism for evil to dissipate my joy. To do so would be to play into evil's hands. And that's what it all comes down to in the end. The only power evil has over us is the power we grant it. This undeniable fact is both terrifying and liberating, but handled properly, it can become one of our most constant and reliable sources of joy. 
3 Comments
bruce charlton
6/10/2020 09:28:07

In agreement; but one quibble - or rather, an attempt at clarification.

"If and when we do, we are obliged to repent our sins in much the same manner we are obliged to forgive those who genuinely and sincerely repent their own sins. "

This is true by an interpretation, but it is a slippery business not to fall into error due to modern ways of understanding the terms.

The way I think of it is that we need to repent our sins in the sense that we must 'turn away' from the pursuit of sin as an approved goal and motivation in our lives. We need to acknowledge sin As sin, and not to promote sin as virtue.

Whereas we need to forgive the sins of others (real or supposed) because the alternative is to habour and approve our own state of resentment, which is itself a sin - and one of a particularly insidious type.

(Resentment is, indeed, the major sin that the modern evil-liar-Satantic Left uses to corrupt the masses - i.e. 'identity politics'; very successfully, since there is now a majority of the population who have put resentment at the focus of their ideology and world-view. Once established, it is undisprovable by any possible evidence, and feeds itself upon whatever-happens.)

Reply
Francis Berger
6/10/2020 10:18:29

@ Bruce - No quibbling from my end. What you have said makes sense to me.

Reply
Jake
6/10/2020 22:10:02

Great post.
I don't have a lot to say about it.
The pressure to conform to the evil is rather intense at times.
Social shaming.
Ridicule.
But the worst is just complicit silence from those you know know better.
And the fact that you don't sit in silence may cause resentment against you.
Silent simmering of resentments.
Such a time must be very frightening to those with no faith, because even if you have faith, the times are difficult.

I've been trying to spend more time on the lake or in nature, to find some simple pleasures.

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