"What fantastic achievements have... been made possible in the way of moving faster, growing richer, communicating more rapidly, mastering illnesses, and altogether overcoming the hazards of our earthly existence. But all the achievements have led to a growing arrogance, a widening separation from the true nature of our being; in other words, an alienation from God. If it were possible to live without God, it would not be worth living at all. It was in a labour camp, Solzhenitsyn has told us, that he learnt what freedom meant and became free.
"So, amidst the shambles of a fallen Christendom, I feel a renewed confidence in the light of the Christian revelation with which it first began.
"I should hate you to think that this view that I've put before you is a pessimistic view. Strangely enough, I believe it to be the only way to a proper and real hope."
Malcolm Muggeridge, from Daily Readings in Catholic Classics, ed. Rawley Myers, Ignatius Press, 1992, pp. 252-253
Painting: José Navarro Llorens - En el Jardín
Oh, I so agree, "if it were possible to live without God, it would not be worth living at all." And so we must live in Christ: in peace, love, and hope - "a proper and real hope" which is expressed beautifully in Romans 5:1-10 (sorry for the long quote but it is the encouragement I think we need at this time):
ReplyDelete[1] Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
[2] Through him we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
[3] More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
[4] and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
[5] and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us.
[6] While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
[7] Why, one will hardly die for a righteous man -- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die.
[8] But God shows his love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.
[9] Since, therefore, we are now justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.
[10] For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
If you're checking in here, you already know that I am so grateful for this comment that I used it for the whole next post! Since the comment is posted publicly and can be seen by anyone checking out this blog, I assumed that would be fine with you. Thank you!!!
DeleteYes, of course, I'm so glad the Bible passage spoke to you as it does to me!
DeleteIt's funny - I was thinking something along these lines today. A coworker decided to give birth to her daughter who has Turner syndrome rather than abort her. I listened as she explained this to a woman who has no belief in God, who seemed to be taking the position that we are the "god" of our own life. "All the achievements have led to a growing arrogance" - now that we can test the unborn for chromosomal defects, instead of using the information we gain from the test to better prepare ourselves for the special needs of the child God has blessed us with, we gear up to play God and decide whether the child should be allowed to be born at all....
ReplyDeleteAnd we moderns have no clue that we are living without God. We think that we are Him.
Oh, Renee. Your last two sentences went right through me. How RIGHT: we have no clue. We think that we ARE Him. We are effectively taking His place in every arena. I think of the original words of the tempter... "you shall be as gods."
DeleteThank you so much for your sharing and insight.