J. B. Shurk at the American Thinker today has a compelling "must read" article for those suffering in today's turbulent times, entitled And Who Are You?. It is a question both to ponder for ourselves, and also to ask of those who might try to influence us. Shurk gives us a program to help us find the true ground upon which to stand:
It is no longer sufficient simply to turn off the television, avoid the Internet, and head out to the closest wilderness trail in search of momentary respite, if not tactical escape. Because Western Marxism seeks to politicize everything, it is increasingly difficult to find suitable refuge from the abhorrent hordes of “climate change” cultists, pronoun-obsessed wackadoodles, virtue-signaling simps, racial grievance monsters, Hamas enthusiasts, and other angry, “woke” trolls. While we endure the peak surges of Marxist globalism — a totalitarian system destined to crash from the weight of its own contradictions — it can feel as if we are drowning in unrelenting waves.
Please allow me to offer a lifeline. I know of no better daily exercise than to spend time (1) repairing and maintaining your relationship with God, (2) helping and protecting the members of your family, (3) testing and strengthening your own character, (4) improving your mind, and (5) healing your physical body. I have found that if a person works on these goals each day, it is much easier to silence outside noise and find peace.
I can attest to at least some of Shurk's prescription. I have kept a daily lectionary provided by our church. With it, one reads a selection from the Bible each day, which in a year covers the entire Bible and the Psalms twice. Psalms are the prayers of the ancient Israelites. In addition, I have long practiced daily prayer. Of course I read eclectically, indeed always have. But recently I have taken up strength training to stave off sarcopenia. It is already showing results. But I do need to work on character building more.
There are two chief reasons why this is so. First, these five exercises are not easy, and they are not meant to be. You could spend every second of every day dedicated to any one and never accomplish the task. Maintaining a good relationship with God? Priests and pastors struggle to do so all their lives. Helping your family? That responsibility never ends. Improving your character? Even honorable people sometimes fail to do what is right. Becoming a better thinker? Learning new things requires patience and diligence. Remaining healthy? The older a body gets, the more committed a person must become to engage in regular physical activity. No matter how simple they might seem when reading these words, every one of these five activities requires tremendous energy and time.
The second reason this daily routine will reward you with a sense of peace is that none of these extraordinarily difficult tasks requires you to submit to the madness of the outside world. Think about the personal responsibilities I have listed: God, family, character, mind, and body. No matter what level of external chaos afflicts us, we are always in complete control over how we choose to interact with God, how we aid our families, how we weigh what is right and wrong, how we use our brains, and how we direct our bodies to persevere. No Marxist subversive or government agency can dictate to us how we perform these duties. They will certainly tell us that they have authority over how we pray, how we live, what we teach, what we know, and how we choose to protect our families. But what they tell us and what they can make us do are entirely different things. I would suggest that when untrustworthy people insist on interfering in the way you perform these daily resolutions, you consider their intrusion a test and an opportunity to strengthen your own self-purpose, commitment, and character. Outside forces cannot diminish us when we use adversity to grow. After all, as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
It does not matter how late in life a person learns to take these five daily exercises seriously. Once they become a part of your routine, you will see the world with more clarity. What is more, you will soon realize that almost everything you do in life gives you a chance to improve one or more of these personal responsibilities. When you are confronted with something uncomfortable or demanding, you will begin to ask yourself how the challenge before you might provide the perfect opportunity to enhance your relationship with God, reinforce the foundations of your family, test your character, help you learn, or make you stronger. Eventually, more and more of the craziness in our world will disappear as the goals you set for yourself lead you down a richer path.
I urge gentle readers to read the entire article by J.B.Shurk, and to ponder the answer to his question "Who are you?" Personally, I am God's servant and soldier in a fallen and pagan world. Who are you?"
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