What is a ‘plausible Future’ for these United(?) States? In your wildest, most optimistic imagination – what does that hopeful tomorrow look like for the land of the free and the home of the brave? That’s what I’m here for – for the rebirth, for the new dawning. I take this phrase from Auden’s poem as my spark:
Auden, from “The Garrison”:
Whoever rules, our duty to the City
is loyal opposition, never greening
for the big money, never neighing after
a public image.
Let us leave rebellions to the choleric
who enjoy them: to serve as a paradigm
now of what a plausible Future might be
is what we’re here for.
The men I know stand ‘in loyal opposition’ to almost everything happening in this nation in this year- in so far as it is reflected in the headlines, in the feeds, and on the VR headsets. Most of what we are loyal proponents of never surfaces for national review or commentary. I’m fine with that, by the way. The less attention, the better. We build in a hostile territory – so, don’t mind us, over here, building in quiet faithfulness!
WHAT IF…
The quiet builders never seem to be interviewed, lauded, or championed by those who point spotlights. We know what a Klaus Schwab/Bill Gates-types imagine for our children; we can play that game as well. When the doom-peddlers and the catastrophe prognosticators work themselves into their micro-frenzies, I often begin to do my own kind of imaginative play. I hypothesize: what would it mean to see our nation reborn? What if the embers of Christendom caught the right winds and the horizon lines for our great-grandchildren looked brighter than anything we’ve yet known? I’m an optimist – a grumpy, grumpy optimist. What would Baltimore look like three years after another Great Awakening, for example? From sea to shining sea – what would a national rebirth, a true about-face repentance look like? I imagine it from the bottom up – not a charismatic leader-led pomp and splendor march-around with a bugle and patriotic flags. I mean a grass-roots transformation of men, women, children, schools, businesses, industries, churches, financial institutions, school boards, city councils, State reps, the Federal Reserve, US Border Patrol, the 9th District Court, and all Federal agencies? What does that nation look like – as it emerges from its sack-cloth and ashes period of self-reflection and cries for mercy from a God who has ears and extremely long arms? [Isaiah 59:1] Because He is who He is, optimism is my only mood and forward movement is my only focus.
Let’s dream a beautiful dream together – the headlines suddenly begin to announce a cultural reversal:
heteronormative marriages and birthrates are skyrocketing, the suicide and depression rates begin to plummet, big-pharma is gutted, abortion isn’t just prosecuted as murder – but demand simply dries up, big tech is revealed for what it is and the public abandons it when it becomes obvious they propagate the fake/gay throughlines that don’t match to anything happening in re-emerging and vibrant local communities, the local public schools are fundamentally reformatted and re-staffed with educators who see their civic duty as custodians of the public trust and help instill academic virtues rather than pushing death-cult agendas, the spark of the love of learning returns to American youth, the Federal government is more than halved and those who remain face term limits, age limits, and restricted compensation packages but they grow in reputation as servants of their constituents (rather than grifters beholden to nameless/faceless interests), the FBI no longer exists – State and local law enforcement rise to their challenge but the crime rates are in free fall, serious jobs return to American shores, the heads of every day citizen begin to titlt a bit higher and chests begin to swell a bit at the thought that we have a nation worthy of our devotion and pride and respect because we’ve been building it all along, our borders are borders, we aren’t sticking out military fingers in the eye of other nations and our CIA isn’t playing stupid games with drone-strikes and warheads to the foreheads silliness, oil and gas is suddenly regarded as a viable natural resource – part of the mix of energy that will power us into the 22nd century, churches decide they’re more interested in faithful teaching than laser shows/hype shows/stunts and celebrity pastors, the number of retirement homes shrinks as the entire industry crumbles under our new found love and respect of those who went before us and sacrificed for us, what gambling industry? what fentanyl crises? what porn industry? what mass shooting events? we sent the NBA to Beijing where it belongs, the founding fathers’ statues are recast in bronze and their sacrifice and vision are esteemed once again, the public libraries swell with literate young faces no longer the mascara-faced bearded ladies, fathers and pastors grow spines and the average size of a church in America (currently 62) triples as faith communities revive, Joel Osteen pivots and opens 17 Dodge dealerships across America’s southland, there’s no more poop on the sidewalks in SanFrancisco, Mississippi and Louisiana surge in new business/higher test scores/low unemployment/ and new home construction, Florida man gets new teeth and a shave, the entire book publishing industry experiences an incredible surge in interest – more new poetry anthologies and fiction titles because our literacy rates are atmospheric, navigating an airport is a dream – the stewardesses are nice once again/TSA never gropes/civility has returned to the economy class seating (and roasted peanuts – the allergy crises has subsided), stained glass orders are way up, inflation and consumer debt are way down.
I could go on -but, I won’t. You get the idea. You could come up with your own examples. I just wanted to stoke our collective imagination to anticipate the goodness and mercy of God and how a society might experience transformation as a result. Let’s not go dark, brothers! Let’s not resign ourselves to the globalist/technocratic hellscape that threatens future generations. Do your daily-hour in the Scriptures and pray with other men in your church/city. We’re pushed back, but not defeated. I can point to a hundred small victories and staying thankful is part of our job – we must lead forth in optimism rather than doomsday black-pilled shuffling along to get along. I won’t back down so easily and neither should you, amigo.