In the classic novel, “A Tale of Two Cities”,
Charles Dickens wrote these unforgettable words… “It was the best of times, it was the worst
of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the
epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light,
it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of
despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all
going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.
For those who are not familiar with this extraordinary
novel, it is set England and
France
in 1775, a few years prior to the French Revolution. The age is marked by competing
and contradictory attitudes—“It was the best of times, it was the worst of
times”— and it's a "prequel'' to the “Victorian period” in which Dickens writes.
Across Europe, the growing public distrust of religious prophecies and practices, the increasingly rapid demise of belief in miracles and most aspects of medieval cosmology was loosening religion's grip on the populace. As biblical and supernatural imagery lost potency, Europeans encountered a world in which the realms of personal and political experience became muddled and confusing.
The " Age of Enlightenment" was reforming society. England was facing a rebellious colony in the Americas, King George the third was increasingly loosing touch with reality; crime and capital punishment abounded; social conditions were appalling and the financial crisis of the 1760's was still echoing across England and Europe, and was a major cause of revolution on both sides of the Atlantic.
The troubled times that Dickens wrote about are mirrored in the contradictory times in which we live. Our world advances daily, but each step toward to utopia appears to be rewarded with two retrograde strides. Despotic leaders are/have been overthrown only to be replaced with still darker forces.
Across Europe, the growing public distrust of religious prophecies and practices, the increasingly rapid demise of belief in miracles and most aspects of medieval cosmology was loosening religion's grip on the populace. As biblical and supernatural imagery lost potency, Europeans encountered a world in which the realms of personal and political experience became muddled and confusing.
The " Age of Enlightenment" was reforming society. England was facing a rebellious colony in the Americas, King George the third was increasingly loosing touch with reality; crime and capital punishment abounded; social conditions were appalling and the financial crisis of the 1760's was still echoing across England and Europe, and was a major cause of revolution on both sides of the Atlantic.
The troubled times that Dickens wrote about are mirrored in the contradictory times in which we live. Our world advances daily, but each step toward to utopia appears to be rewarded with two retrograde strides. Despotic leaders are/have been overthrown only to be replaced with still darker forces.
It is the best time to be a believer and it is the worst time to be a believer. God’s purposes are coming to light for millions around the world, even as darkness creeps across the globe to enslave countless millions more. Persecution of believers is on the rise, not only in Africa and Asia, but in many “Western” nations as well. Traditional so-called "Christian Nations" are rapidly shedding that hard fought for standing and replacing it with something called "spirituality" a "mash-up"of religious thought borrowed from any and everywhere.
The world is reeling from a large number of destructive natural disasters in recent years and many earth scientists are saying that these events have
heralded a new period of unprecedented earthquake/volcanic activity. The Boxing
Day Tsunami of 2004 occasioned debate in religious communities around the world.
Was this God’s Judgment, or was this a “natural” event? Subsequent immensely destructive earthquakes in my home town of Christchurch and the unprecedented Tsunami in Japan a month later have kept that debate alive.
The financial crisis currently embroiling Europe has all the hallmarks of a major social/political revolution. Between the destruction of the US dollar and Euro we may be witnessing the birth of a universal currency.
The financial crisis currently embroiling Europe has all the hallmarks of a major social/political revolution. Between the destruction of the US dollar and Euro we may be witnessing the birth of a universal currency.
There is more than enough distress wherever
one looks to fill our spirits with deep dread. Is there any hope? When he faced
difficult circumstances King David, who was also on the verge of despair, wrote:
My
tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, “Where
is your God?” Psalm 42:3
David forcibly reminded himself of the ONLY true source of hope in any and every circumstance:
David forcibly reminded himself of the ONLY true source of hope in any and every circumstance:
Why
are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God,
for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Psalm 42:5
Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger or threatened with death? No! Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us. Romans 8:35-37
Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger or threatened with death? No! Despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us. Romans 8:35-37
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