“3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” (Matt 24:3-14 ESV)

Tending the peace, flare-ups are foretold and avoided, but still: some demons of War coax and befuddle even the most sanguine warrior. We give in to an urge. We smirk at others whom we ought rather to listen to. The spirit of the Age twists and murders the group mentalism, the group unity, the group mutual respect, service, caretaking nature.

We see this plague originating first of all in ourselves. Indeed, if—handled, authorized, enabled—we crimp the would-be atheism, the would-be yawning convenient thinking, the would-be snooze whilst Christ stays up, prays, goes to His Cross, then our own being is Credited with having averted the societal collapse, averted the group divergence, averted the haunted Aspects of life in this Nation, in this Togetherness, in this League most Global.

Its like chocolate for the soul, that even an indulgence is prayed over and made Sacramental, made Comment on the bleeping, needy, pathetic internal debate and war. We shall Emerge Tomorrow vivid and winsomely Engaged, for the sake of Today’s deprivations. Today’s handled nature, we the Agents of a truce that doesn’t mock the one not in the loop, but rather discusses Manifest and Real situational concerns, thought objects, discussion points: that we are Servants of the Most High… this in all secrecy has made the buck stop each and everywhere with the Agent him or herself. Because (thougth experiment): were we to claim any more, to claim Special Agent Status, then we would be demanded to produce evidence; the evidence, the master authority, then would be asked to produce evidence… until the entire operation is betrayed. So, rather than half-way betrayal, the buck stops with each and every Believer: that it is simply God Himself for whom we, with internal Sincerity and Sainthood, toil. That it is Father in Heaven Himself for whom we, with internal Integrity and Assumed Silence, labor. We called Him once “Jesus”; and we hold no grudge nor false pride in just who and what we are: Agents of the Crown.

Handled, we respond directly to nips and tucks, but to the insulin of our wildly reared souls. Our souls neigh and scamper, because of that heavensent Pinch, the Job Well Done, My Good and Faithful Servant, as we hope eternally to hear. Indeed, in mind of said Eternity we can shoulder a bit more Burden this hour. We are kept hungry, perhaps, kept “in the cold”, perhaps… because our thought experiment has become something we ourselves are wrapped up within. That Never have we voiced certain truths, and that it has become second nature to overlook what—to a shocked interlocutor—is the primary Fact, to jabber and converse as though all were somewhat Normal. But… you never told us that… the fact is, crimped and forbidden, we learn to Cope, and there is good format of this and ill format, the forbidden thought topics that, sure, we can get by without leaning on so-and-so, but by having any Dialog minus their direct address, is unwittingly to grant them Power: the Power of silence, of implied Submission or Fear Factor: as if we were sued in a court of law to concede some simple battle of the wills, some simple fight between the ones with the rolodex and the ones without, the established Entities in the world and the have-nots.

Because it was all things told—and here, again, guild and habit mean never do we lean on this truth claim—simply a leg up for a poor cohort of children. To protect them a bit in the aggregate, in a corrective or duty-assigning Modality, Film, Play, Musical, Storyline. And also to dream Big for them, because the Everyman and Everywoman is therein blessed. Sure, the storyline is aggressive and a bit Different from facts on the ground, a bit dismissive, a bit sexist or racist. But the heart is there, and if it gets someone’s goat, so be it.

To the trenches! To the refusal to Engage an enemy who lacks principles. To the long and patient delay: we foretold their ruse would fail, but the Christian, the Saint, the Soldier, must wait for their “coup de grace” to reach the front headlines, in order that it can be shown to have failed magnificently. Such is the Christian refusal: that the more “violence” and “Sex” is on the big screen, the more meek and patient are those who, jestingly, it is attributed to. As if a reward, that the toughest cat in the room, would be the one most peace loving. Or at least affrightened, innocently affrightened, of taking the apple.

The apple of living life where we are no longer “obviously” saintly, but where all comers, all saints, experience the dastardly dividing line between Good and Evil. Where, by not resting on our laurels, we are Tested and Invigorated with the fact: good men, good women, are a mixed bag. People who, on behalf of the trusting children, do shoulder Debts and Sadnesses, and Regrets too burdensome for anyone but Christ, but Themselves, but those not afforded the comfy Peace of a church service. Stop answering to the mocking charges against you! Start living in Faith of a Higher Calling, not only your own, but that of those whom you deign to honor with an audience! Listen to each other, in faith that the naysayers and the awful ones caught up in the accidental Dragnet, will amount to nothing. See, too, how denuded they felt, minus an education, minus a “Perfect Conversion Story”. Sympathize, but also do not patronize evil. Do not go thinking it is all water under the bridge. Some faults, must be approached in reverence for War. In fear and trembling. In the fact, two enemies can choose a principled war or unprincipled, things held in trust being bargained over and lost, the minefields that outlast the chess, the scorched earth that takes generations to heal, to ruin of social mechanisms intended to help the poor and those without someone to turn to, a rolodex in their arsenal.