"Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father.
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews.
No, true believers will worship God in spirit and truth, and God the Father will seek out those who approach him offering the sacrifice of worship and praise." ---Jesus
Tewksbury: "Beautiful, isn't it? It always felt an honor to me that my family was given this part of England to protect."
Holmes: "To protect?"
Tewksbury: "That is what it is to be an ancestral landowner. As the world becomes increasingly unstable, it feels important that these ideas of England are preserved, for the safety and security of the future of our country."
Holmes: "It is lovely here."
Tewksbury: "But you're probably one of those new thinkers? My son was a new thinker too. Never could focus on what was, it was always what could be. I suspect my grandson is the same. England's true glory...is what is. Do you see?
Holmes: "I can see much beauty."
Tewksbury: "Very sensible answer."
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Its a good visual illustration of the age old struggle between those who hold a blissful view of the past and those who have, as G.K Chesterton describes: "a special romance with the future."
"The last few decades have been marked by a special cultivation of the romance of the future. We seem to have made up our minds to misunderstand what has happened; and we turn, with a sort of relief, to stating what will happen—which is (apparently) much easier.
--G.K. Chesterton, What's Wrong With The World.
- It's easier to imagine playing with our great grandchildren than being judged by our great grandfathers' character and courage.
- It's easier to paint on a blank canvas then to reproduce a masterpiece.
- It's easier to trust technology's promises then live by timeless principles.
For decades here in the USA and around the globe, national politicians have been seduced by the idea of a "New World Order" led by technology and economics. The latest iteration of NWO is the United Nation's "Building Back Better" (which presidential candidate Joe Biden, "Build Back Better", adopted as his campaign slogan.
"Building Back Better (BBB) is an approach to post-disaster recovery [including pandemics] that reduces vulnerability to future disasters and builds community resilience to address physical, social, environmental, and economic vulnerabilities and shocks. ... BBB also applies to cross-cutting issues such as environment, gender, and governance." (emphasis added)
This was adopted by the United Nations in 2015 and is being promoted by countries and corporations around the world. It is based on 17 goals as listed on the UN's website:
- No poverty
- Zero hunger
- Vaccinate your family
- Quality education
- Gender equality
- Clean water and sanitation
- Affordable and clean energy
- Decent work and economic growth
- Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- Reduced inequalities
- Sustainable cities and communities
- Responsible consumption and production
- Climate action
- Life below water
- Life on land
- Peace, justice and strong institutions
- Partnerships
As "plausible" sounding as these goals seem, it is vital to understand that the key to these goals is defining what is called "sustainable", which, by definition, pits itself against "unsustainable" actions. We, in the USA are already feeling the effect of those in positions of power determining what is "essential" for our own well-being. The obvious problem with this is that it depends on some One or some group of humans determining for other human beings what is "sustainable", "essential" or necessary for each individual's well being.
The argument always used to persuade people to accept and adopt the view of a small group of "experts" for determining the fate of societies is "oppressors oppress the oppressed". Convincing people that they are "victims" of some thing or another is not that difficult. Why? Because life is hard, whether the result of Natural laws, rejecting Nature's God, our own choice consequences or the impact of other's choices.
Chesterton points out:
"To all this plausible modern argument for oppression, the only adequate answer is, that there is a permanent human ideal that must not be either confused or destroyed.
The most important man on earth is the perfect man who is not there. The Christian religion has specially uttered the ultimate sanity of Man, says Scripture, who shall judge the incarnate and human truth.
Our lives and laws are not judged by divine superiority, but simply by human perfection. It is man, says Aristotle, who is the measure. It is the Son of Man, says Scripture, who shall judge the quick and the dead."
If I am to discuss what is wrong, one of the first things that are wrong is this: the deep and silent modern assumption that past things have become impossible. There is one metaphor of which the moderns are very fond; they are always saying, “You can’t put the clock back.” The simple and obvious answer is “You can." A clock, being a piece of human construction, can be restored by the human finger to any figure or hour. In the same way society, being a piece of human construction, can be reconstructed upon any plan that has ever existed." [Note; consider the Amish's ability to maintain a balance between the demands of a modern world for which they depend on income and roads verses the demands of their traditions and principles.]
The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried."
The only true free–thinker is he whose intellect is as much free from the future as from the past. He cares as little for what will be as for what has been; he cares only for what ought to be.
As Jesus points out to the Samaritan woman he encountered at a watering well, novel ideas of what can make life easier for the human race continually pop up and run their course. At times, as history has shown, the fanaticism with which these ideas are embraced border on worship; and certainly those who reject the current popular fads/ideologies, based especially on Scriptural historical accounts of what has worked and what hasn't worked, are either marginalized, at best, or eradicated, at worst.
If we are to worship and give ourselves to what works for mankind's ultimate salvation (sorry UN its not Building Back Better), let us worship and give ourselves In Spirit, to The Truth; for that is where all True Worshipers of the Father will find themselves, worshiping what we know, at the feet of the Ultimate Man!
