“We want God! We want God! We want God!”
I am remembering the days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Those were dark days for me and for many people. And I was among the luckiest people in the world. Nobody who was close to me became too sick and nobody died. But there were lockdowns and shutdowns and isolation and adjustments. And those were the things that were difficult for me to handle. I did not like the idea of the government telling me what to do. It felt completely unfair and terribly wrong.
And yet – all over the world and throughout history, unjust governments have made unjust rules to restrict and isolate their people…
“Jesus said, ‘As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.’ And they asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?’ And he said, ‘Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is at hand!' Do not go after them.’” (Luke 21:5-11).Nothing is more unfair than communism. This regime has never operated in a way that led to justice, fairness and positive social or economic outcomes for the nations of the world. Theoretically, the idea seems okay – after all, sharing wealth between the rich and the poor is a very good thing. The problem becomes about who decides who is rich and who decides who is poor and how much wealth should be shared and what cut the government will take of the distributions, and how and why can the leaders of the government be replaced.
One example of the horror of Communism is communism in Poland. For over 34 years Soviet Communists had tried to abolish religion (for if a nation was enslaved to the government they would act only upon what they were told by the government and would ignore the teaching of the Church, which would oppose the injustice being exhibited. In 1979, Pope Saint John Paul II visited Poland (being a Polish Pope). Prior to his visit, the government took steps to curb the enthusiasm of the Poles during this visit. Media was censored and people were warned. However, when the Saint took to the stage to begin preaching, the crowd of millions who had gathered began chanting at the top of their voices, “We want God! We want God! We want God!” The shouting continued for fifteen minutes…
And nothing the government could threaten its people with was enough to still the yearning in their hearts.
And I have been thinking about that today – for it seems to me that when everything comes easily to me it is far too easy for me to forget about the yearning in my heart, which should match the shouts of those Poles in 1979. I really should be shouting with every breath… “We want God! We want God! We want God!”
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
Opmerkingen