“The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision.
It is a silent acquiescence to evil.
The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction,
while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
Archbishop Fulton Sheen
(a sheep farm outside of Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland / Julie Cook / 2015)
Where does one begin…
Where does one look when attempting to sort it all out?
From whence has it come?
What was the root cause?
What was the catalyst?
How did it ever come to this?
Standing in the center of the raging maelstrom
Silent and dumbfounded…
Only a remaining handful are left to sort it out.
As the majority silently chooses to ignore it…
We choose to turn our heads.
We refuse to call truth by its name.
While hoping it all just goes away.
We don’t want to get labeled.
We don’t want to lose our businesses, our jobs, our positions.
We don’t want to be taken to court.
We don’t want to be disliked, unliked or disconnected.
We don’t want to be shamed…
All the while we are being told we’d best accept things or otherwise shut-up.
We are told to get on board or get out.
We are vilified,
We are hated
We are deemed ignorant.
We are considered backwards.
We are called all manner of vile names
We are stalked by the shadows…
That is unless we recant, we back down, we reconsider,
we change our minds, we accept the once unacceptable…
as the bitter taste is no less palatable, yet we swallow for survival.
And it is because of one thing and one thing only…
We carry the name Christian or Jew.
We support the cross, we support Israel and we hold the word of God as just that…
The Truth.
Yet even under that banner there are those who toil
at rewriting and altering ancient words and law in order to
“modernize” them.
“God didn’t mean that, He actually meant this instead….”
As we don’t like thinking about sin and Hell, so let’s
just throw the blanket out covering everyone…as in
it is all indeed good…because we are all about feeling good.
We stand before the manger feeling all warm and fuzzy,
as we look upon that peaceful nurturing scene of Mother and Child…
All the while we throw up our Christmas trees as the media screams at us,
telling us what we must have and actually need under those trees
in order to be forever happy…
never mind what we really need or want….
…simply to love and be loved….
as in forever…
We want our God to be all loving, all caring, all good, all giving
all about us….
He loves everyone no matter what, right?
He tolerates everything right?
He accepts us no matter what right?
Cause if that’s not right, we don’t want Him.
Cause and effect.
Have we forgotten?
For every cause, there is an opposite reaction or effect.
Up, down
push, pull
lift, drop,
climb, fall….
Yet we decide that the law of physics will not apply to us.
We will live as we choose, with a God who we demand will
abide by our choices and our will…or else…
We will simply rewrite Him…
…or deem Him ill suited, outdated, or better yet…
the product of mere myths…
We deem marriage is not just between man and woman.
We decide boys can be girls and girls can be boys.
There is no separation, no division, no balance…
We don’t like results so we kick and scream until we get the results we like.
We don’t like the flag so we burn it.,
We don’t like religion so we ignore it,
We don’t like those over there cause
we are paranoid and think they don’t like us over here….
We are so busy being us and loving us…as in me, myself and I…
that we are failing to see what is happening all around us.
We are so afraid of offending anyone and everyone that we can’t call terrorists what they are.
We can’t admit that radical Islam wants to annihilate us so we instead invite
them to all come live with us.
We bend everything about us…
until we break, all in the name of acceptance and equality.
And yet we still just don’t get it.
We can’t see it.
We don’t want to admit it….
We’d rather just stare at the crib feeling all warm and fuzzy…
as we forget that the road to Bethlehem, and it’s inviting manger, leads directly
to the Via Dolorosa…
Cause and effect.
Birth and death
Life or not…
If we claim to be Christian or Jew.
If we believe in morality as a guiding principle.
If we believe in cause and effect
If we believe that God is God and we are not…
Now is our moment to be silent no more….
(a sheep being sheared at a sheep farm outside of Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland / Julie Cook / 2015)
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
Acts 18:9-10
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
Once again our great minds are on the same track. Are we simply like those silly sheep without minds of our own. Must we be led, spoon fed and left for dead. I remember in a recent portrayal of the Bible, as a sheep was led to the slaughter and silently stood as his throat was slashed. We have lost our voices as Christians. It’s time to speak again. Onward and upward!!
Amen—I have felt such a sense of urgency as of late!!
This is our platform.
The stage is set so they say….. 😉
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging and commented:
Thought provoking piece 🤔
Baa. 😦 Here I was, thanking God for being on the right side of the fence when I might as well be sitting on it. You called me out with this thought-provoking piece, Julie. I’ve always been adept at conflict-avoidance so I thought I was doing well in having informed my folks (and my blog followers) of my reception into the Church. Most of them weren’t impressed at all. My dad commiserated with me, if you can believe it. My aunt warned me not to try to convert her. So I’ve been keeping quiet, keeping the peace, trying not to rock the boat, restricting myself to praying for their souls instead of saying things they might not like to hear. I don’t know whether this sheep will find her voice but I will try harder to take opportunities to stand up for the truth.
Thanks Julie. 🙂
God bless you.
Baaaaa 🙂 Sarah!!!!
No one ever said we each have to shout like a clanging cymbal…some of us share our faith through other means…such as art work, as in your case!
Others through the spoken word, the written word, music, song, just merely going about our daily lives living the faith day in and day out.
I am not one who is loud or boisterous—I’m certainly not standing in some protest or against some protest…and I can only pray that if I am ever faced with extreme consequence—those moments where one is told to recant one’s faith or be made to suffer the consequence, that I can stand with my head held high still proclaiming that God is God and I am not… and that Jesus Christ is indeed Lord of all….
I have felt such a strong conviction as of late that time is of the essence in standing firm in our faith—we are being attacked both coming and going, from both within and without….
Watching world events as well as the awfulness happening here in the states from same sex marriage, to those who oppose homosexuality being targeted and victimized and even taken to court to change sway….to the hatefulness following this election, to the burning of flag, along with those folks thinking that not all lives seem to matter…
to the rising alarm of radical Islam….
we’ve got troubles and our only hope is found in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ—we can’t rewrite that, we can’t pretend that as much as God loves us, He is still and exacting God who has stated that we either follow His word, His tenants, His commands…or we don’t …and then we indeed suffer the consequences—it’s just that our society today does not want consequences…and we seem to think that we can pretend that certain things just aren’t so…they are out of date or of another time…no longer current…
But the one thing I do know is that God’s word transcends time…it is the same today as it was when He first breathed life in us….
Whereas we are fickle and full of whims…ebbing and flowing with our faith and belief system…He is the same…ad infinitum…
and it’s a matter of getting that little fact in the hearts and minds of other that is key…
You keep sharing your faith beautifully in your art Sarah—for He finds great pleasure in your talents and gifts….
hugs from this side of the pond
Yes, I know what you mean, I am feeling that time is of the essence also. As it says in Disney’s Hercules (I’m full of classic references 😉 ) “The planets will align ever so nicely.”… https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/a-great-sign-said-to-appear-in-the-heavens-as-the-year-of-mercy-closes
Thank you for your kind response. Hugs to you too. 🙂
God bless you.
Hi Julie, I just read your comment on Father Hugh’s latest post. Our Lady of Akita echoes a lot of what she said at Fatima. Have you read about what Our Lady said at Fatima? The Church’s official line is that the prophecies were fulfilled when John Paul II was shot but most Catholics agree that that interpretation doesn’t make much sense. The prophecies make much more sense if they are applied to our current situation. There is also a link between Fatima and one of “the four cardinals”.
Got to dash…
I saw that you also read the good Father’s blog when I was looking at it the other day!
I just love Fr Hugh—as he is so steeped in truth—never afraid to share what he “observers” …
I am familiar with the Fatima prophesies and do not believe them to end with John Paul being shot either as is much the current school of thought.
I was one who loved John Paul—he became Pope when I was a senior in high school, and at the time I was a very active Episcopalian but loved him deeply—I wrote to him twice over the course of his papacy and upon his death, ventured to Rome that summer to pay my respects at his grave within the St Peter’s… before he was officially entombed in his permeant crypt…
My son placed a small American flag at his grave….
Francis is vastly different. In part because of being from South America and having lived under the type of leadership and political system in Buenos Aires vs JPII in a Poland that was first a Nazi occupied nation then later under communist control…
And whereas Francis wishes to take on the name of one of my favorite saints…we know that St Francis struggled with leadership…so much so that he had to withdraw from the Brother’s minor due to the infighting and upheaval and his own inability to quell the trouble…
This Francis seems to stir the pot then sit back and watch…a bit troubling….
And yesterday after reading the good Father’s post, I had not originally commented as I was filled with a good bit of sadness in what all he shares…then I went on reading and immediately saw the posting on Dover Beach and it was that quote and I thought “WOW!!!”
It was as if Our Lady offered her own observation….so I went back to Fr Hugh’s post and added the comment.
Now I don’t know Fr Hugh’s take on such…prophesies and what all—but I thought those words were a direct continuation of his entire post…
we’ll see what he says, if anything 🙂
Sorry, I had to rush off before I’d finished.
Yes, I’d be interested to hear Fr. Hugh’s take on it too.
How wonderful that you were so inspired by Pope John Paul II, and that your son was able to accompany you to Rome. Did the trip inspire your son?
Here is an brief bit about the Fatima-Cardinal Caffara link that I mentioned: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/06/cardinal-what-sister-lucia-told-me.html
Oh wow Sarah—I have read a great deal on Padre Pio and have written about him and included his quotes often in my posts—
I agree that this is indeed a battle ground—the family, the sanctity of marriage, the idea that marriage is between a man and a woman only…..
When we were in Rome in 2005, Brenton was 14 I think….I have so many stories of what some would call coincidence, others Divine—always lasting impressions that have certainly stayed with him…and I do encourage him and his wife to visit the Catholic Cathedral there in Atlanta where they are currently living…as he is very inclined, like his mother 🙂 in that direction—his wife, not so much as it is a bit foreign to her southern baptist roots 🙂
But God will certainly direct their path…
I kind of doubt the good Father will respond as some one recently posted a comment about the prophesies of St Malachy and the papacy and he didn’t respond….I have read those prophecies and they too are quite interesting given today’s situation…
I think I tend to be the recurring lost protestant constantly pulling at Fr Hugh’s cassock…I don’t think he knows what to make of me…I’ve followed him for quite sometime and he tends to ebb and flow with the blog—and I so miss him when he is away …
Sarah here is my email
jcook13@bellsouth.net
Thanks for the email address. I will reply to this comment via email tomorrow. I’m currently working on my graphics tablet which only has a virtual keyboard which takes forever.
work on my little artist 🙂
😀
Sarah, I hear you.
I like what you said, Julie, in your comment above; we aren’t all called to do it exactly the same way….but we are ALL called to do it.
🐑🐏
Wally, such wisdom here. Thank you. Now, how is He calling me to do it, moment by moment, grace upon grace? God, help me to be sensitive to His leading (or prodding, as the case may be!)
Sometimes I need more than prodding!
Amen and amen! Fabulous post and photo my friend. Love, N 🙂 ❤
Reblogged this on Sacred Touches.