The Ax Lies At The Root

This past Sunday we had the Gospel reading from Matthew about John the Baptist that contains the passage that I use in the "topic" space at the top of the page and gave the inspiration for the blog's title.  After our weekly lectio divina on Saturday morning I was gently ribbed by my confreres for not choosing that phrase for my shared meditation.  Even Padre Steve told me he kept on thinking about the blog when he proclaimed the Gospel at Mass (I'm sorry for being a cause of distraction). The title of the blog has been a source of confusion for many people, and I get a lot of jokes about it.  I even had the idea of changing it, but once the traffic began to pick up it made more sense to leave it be.

When I was first thinking about what I wanted to do with this space I was reading a lot different articles, especially on Spirit Daily about the end times.  The result was that I had the eschaton firmly in mind when I was coming up with themes I wanted to pursue in this space. As things developed and the blog took on a life of it's own the topics taken up by The Ax ended up being broader than what I first had in mind. In spite of this their roots are still firmly planted in the idea that the world as we know it is passing away and we need to hold on to the things that last.  These "things" are not the material possessions that we have, but the deeper spiritual virtues that will sustain us through the crisis of life.  Knowing what these spiritual things are and valuing them demands a purification of the mind and the will that is at the heart of repentance.  This is the very thing John was calling the people of Jerusalem to on the banks of the Jordan River.  The Church begins this Advent Season by focusing us on the End Times and the need for repentance as a way of preparing for Christmas, and for our final encounter with he Lord in His glorious Second Coming.

I have many people ask me if we are living in the End Times right now.  They think because I'm a priest that I have some inside track on these things, but I tell them the Lord keeps that info close to his vest, and hasn't brought me into the loop yet.  What I can say is that I do believe we are coming to the end of an historical epoch.  I don't see things holding if the political and economic situation continues as it is.  I'm not talking about if we should follow Republican or Democrat policies, whether we should raise taxes or cut them, for instance (though I do have an opinion on that).  There is a crisis of the national soul that has it's roots in self loathing that is truly disturbing and more consequential than the particular government programs we end up following.

A long time ago our public education system began promoting what they call values free education.  The idea was that the role of the educator is to train critical thinkers, not patriotic citizens.  Even though I went to education school at a Catholic sponsored university, most of the professors did not practice the faith and bought into this philosophy, lock, stock and barrel.  The central tenet of "critical thinking" is the belief that all values systems are equally valid, so that Western Culture is seen as no better than any other, and in fact worse in many ways.  The result is that there are generations that have been taught that the United States is no better than any other nation, and in many ways a force for evil in the world.  I wonder if, as a result of this style of education, we see our nation as something worth saving?

There is a fine line between patriotism and nationalism.  The latter is associated with aggressive, totalitarian regimes.  Nationalism is uncritical of itself, to be sure, and intolerant of other cultures.  Patriotism is a love of country that allows for self examination and purification based on a country's founding principles and enduring values, uniquely expressed throughout it's historical and cultural life.  But before that self examination can take place the citizens have to know what their founding principles are and be convinced that these values are really worth preserving. I fear that the last two or three generations of Americans don't know and, worse yet, don't care about such things.  We have become materialist and consumerist, and as long as our bodily needs and material desires are being met nothing else really matters.  We may even claim to disdain the very values that made the material benefits we enjoy possible.  Every nation needs to go through periods of self examination and purification in order to grow, prosper and be perfected, but none can survive if it is consumed by self loathing, and I fear that we have reached that stage.

True patriotism calls us to self examination and even self criticism, but not self loathing.  Patriotism is not opposed to discipleship in Christ.  John Paul II was a proud Pole who fought for the soul of his nation by appealing to Poland's cultural identity and national ideals.  He also recognized that all culture needs to be purified by the light of the Gospel.  To love the United States, to see it as unique and gifted by God is not a vice.  To understand that We the People are imperfect and need cleansing is no crime, either.  But to carry this examination of the national conscience to the point of self hatred endangers our will to survive.

This spiritual sickness I write of is a strange mixture of profound self centeredness and self loathing.  While we have stopped believing in American exceptionalism, it hasn't made us more outward looking.  The world is at it's most unstable point since the late 1930's, but we are consumed by technology and acquiring "gadgets," pointless entertainments and diversions while the political and economic system crumbles around us.  I'm not even going to get into how I see the sexual revolution playing into all this (I'll save it for another time).  We are heading toward a defining moment in history and how we make a collective examination of conscience and conversion to the Lord will determine how we weather the crisis.

John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus and His Kingdom, but was also speaking to a people on the verge of great political and social change.  He was calling them to repent of their sins and convert their lives because only this radical turning back to God could help them endure the times of trial yet to come.  40 years after Christ's death and Resurrection Jerusalem, along with the Temple, was destroyed by the Romans.  Jewish life was changed forever, and even though the modern State of Israel exists today, the Holy City is not the center of worship in the same way it was at the time of Jesus.  For the Jews of the First Century it was as if the world had come to an end.  I am no prophet, nor am I the son a prophet.  I do not know what the future brings for sure.  But unless there is a turning back to God on a large scale I fear what things will be like if and when when the bottom finally falls out.