Last night, those two concepts filled my mind.
It's been eons since I've last posted. It's not that I haven't had any thoughts about being Catholic. I have. Many, in fact. But the thoughts have been overrun by the overwhelming psychic sucker-punches our culture is currently receiving. By "psychic," I don't mean "Stella the Psychic." I mean the cultural mores that define our frame of mind, and these mores have been crumbling so quickly that it has done two things: 1) shocked and terrified those who are paying attention or 2) caused those who do see to deny it and focus on other things.
Suffice it to say, I see. I see things very, very clearly.
Which of course, drives me even deeper into my faith. The only way I can go on, and still cling to my dreams (of which I still have many), is to believe and trust in God. Perhaps more than ever, I am unspeakably grateful that I am Catholic. I cannot even imagine being an evangelical and being able to handle this. I certainly don't want to offend my evangelical brothers and sisters with that comment, but here's the context: Catholicism has trained her sons and daughters from a very early age that martyrdom exists, hardship and suffering exist -- and all of it is a part and parcel of our faith. Jesus said the world hated Him and would hate His followers. Somehow that piece of truth has gotten misplaced or forgotten in the midst of building churches that have a food court.
We are witnessing a global effort to bring chaos so that "something else" will be ushered in. The "something else" is assumed by many Christians to be a one-world government. I believe communism and Marxism is a part of it because of all the elements already existing in many of the protests we've seen.
I just read today that student protests are happening in Chile. It's everywhere. So think of this: How is it that the same "protests" are popping up all over the world, at the same time? Does this not prove there is a larger agenda at work? That there are powerful people who have carefully coordinated these protests?
Which leads me to what I was thinking about last night.
Chaos is infantile. It is the toddler who throws food on the floor because it gets an immediate response. The toddler doesn't know any better but will be taught that it isn't a good thing to throw food on the floor. And the toddler will learn as she grows up that throwing things when one is angry is childish.
Chaos is the sloppy room a teenager live in, insisting that it's perfectly acceptable to her to live in filth. And generally the teenager's parents reprimand her and encourage her to clean up her room.
Chaos should be at the bottom rung of civilized society. It is a trait of babies, toddlers, and teenagers. But then they all should step up to the next level of development, which is order.
Order is mature. Order is being trained by your parents that choices have consequences, practice makes perfect, and keeping one's room organized means you'll find your hairbrush when you need it.
Order brings comfort. I thought of this one day when after my husband left early in the morning for work, I straightened the bed sheets and cover, and then slipped underneath for a little more sleep. As I drifted off blissfully, I sighed and thought, "Order brings comfort." For me, this is so true and I imagine it is for most people. When my home is in order, when my life is in order, I relax. Order is the opposite of chaos.
Now think of God and what He created.
A beautiful planet in which order abounds. There are scientific processes that allow for life. There is an order to His design. Science has studied the patterns of nature and can predict the way chemicals interact with one another precisely because there is order. There are some things that will never change, like gravity and our need for oxygen.
Nature is often chaotic, but even then we can predict certain developments with a fair amount of accuracy. Technology continues to aid us in pinpointing exactly how occurrence "A" will affect "B." Order reigns.
But I look at these two concepts and apply them to what is happening to our society in the U.S. today. And I admit it stuns me. There is a systematic effort to deconstruct our current way of life, the moral underpinnings of our society, and our understanding of right and wrong. There is a concentrated mission to bring about chaos -- to destroy what has worked and what is good. The "good" is now hated, mocked, and marked for elimination because it represents a moral judgement.
Do you see where I'm going with this?
What is happening here in the United States is happening throughout the world. The intentions, which I will call evil (for that is its true nature), comes straight from the pit of hell. It is the desire to destroy God's creation and kill His sons and daughters. The same evil existed over 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ was crucified.
Except we know how that turned out. Death was defeated. The punishment for sin, fulfilled. And a new life with God was born. All because of the great grace God has poured out on the human race. The desire the Evil One had for bringing chaos, death, and destruction was shut down in a huge way; in a way that no words could ever describe.
But the Evil One has not given up. Even though he was defeated by the evidence of an empty tomb, he has continued to pursue souls, intent upon dragging them to the pit of hell. Chaos is his calling card.
I try to keep all of this in perspective. When I get fearful, I'm more likely to veer into a chaotic state, myself. It's easy to allow the current events of the day to dictate our emotions. But don't allow it. Don't allow the chaos to win.
God is a God of order and love. Of grace and forgiveness, wisdom and judgement. As I place my trust in Him, I am at peace. His divine order reminds me that there is a higher purpose to all things. And that this higher purpose is meant to both glorify Him and to lift me above my sin into holiness.
I am deeply thankful for and fully embrace His divine order.
