Sunday, March 7, 2010

What's Sin Got to Do With It?

Last Friday I was so overwhelmed by the amount of news that an automatic shut-off valve in  my brain slammed into place.  If you study the Cloward-Piven Strategy or Alinsky's Rules for Radicals, you'll notice  one of the key components for the lefties of the world, that of "overwhelming the system" to make their plan work, is in full operation.  Looking at the multiple sources of information available to us today with more of a discerning eye leaves me with the distinct impression that we often play right into the hands of those who wish us harm.

The human mind and body is a system; a system more important than those of government or tribal affiliation.   If you overwhelm the systems of the individual we become fodder for the the collective.  While untold hours are spent "reporting" on every little twinge in the news, including a woman who lost her fingers to a bear through her own drunken stupidity, there isn't much time left for anything of real importance.

If you are a Christian, the only thing of real importance is our reason for existence. We were created so that some day we could be fully united with God.  This is not a journey that begins "someday" or when we have some spare time.  It is a journey that began at birth and ends at our death.  If we allow the evil people of this world, and make no mistake about this, there are evil people,  to divert our path on this journey to our destination, all could be lost.

Does this mean we ignore the secular politics of this world?  Absolutely not.  But a balance between what is truly important and what is mere distraction should be maintained. We must not render to Caesar in lieu of what we owe God.

So what does sin have to with it?  We have all recounted, myself included, the psychological manifestations of Obama's personality.  We have determined with some certainty that he is a malignant narcissist.  We know that he, and his minions, do not have our best interests in mind as they try to take over the health care delivery system of this country.  We know that at the the heart of this takeover is power.  Desire for power is based on the most grievous of sins, that of pride.  Satan himself, overcome with pride, desired power; he wanted to be God, and we see where that got him.

We are all sinners to one degree or another.  It is when we stop acknowledging this fact that we are led down a path that ends in destruction.  A curtain is drawn around our souls and darkness prevails.  In time, small sins become bigger and bigger.  People such as Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden, who identify themselves as Catholics while advocating for a woman's right to kill her child in the womb, argue that this makes sense.  And no one wants to call it what it is - sin - and Satan is very happy and rejoices.

To kill a child in the womb is a sin.  To take by force the fruits of one person's labor to give to another is a sin.  To acquiesce to such thefts is also a sin.  When an able-bodied person eschews work in favor of accepting money and goods stolen from another - it is a sin.  When you demand that someone else pay for your health care, it is a sin.  A great number of the people who occupy seats of power in our government have become so entrenched in their lives of sin, they no longer even notice. 

If we neglect our duties to God, which is a sin by the way, eventually the curtain will begin to be drawn around our souls.  Our "system" will be overwhelmed, our intellect dulled, and we will be unprepared for the battles we will surely face in the upcoming years.  The powers of darkness are fierce, unrelenting, and working overtime.  Bernard of Clairvaux in volume 4 of "On the Song of Songs" says it so well:
But is there anyone like Paul; anyone who does not consent at times to this sensual desire and so submits to sin?  Let him who yields to sin take note that he has raised another wall against himself by that wicked and unlawful consent.  A man of this kind cannot boast that for him the Bridegroom stands behind the wall, because not one wall but walls now intervene...
But what if the repetition of sins becomes a habit, or the habit induces contempt, as Scripture says: "When wickedness  comes, contempt comes also"? (Prov. 18:3)  If you die like this, will you not be devoured a thousand times by those that roar as they await their food, before you can reach the Bridegroom now shut off from you not merely by one, but a succession of walls?
The first is sensual desire; the second, consent; the third the action; the fourth, habit; the fifth contempt.  Take care then to resist with all your strength the first movements of sensual desire lest they lure you to consent, and then the whole fabric of wickedness will vanish.
Take care says Bernard. Do not neglect your duties to God. 

Related:  

Washington Examiner:  Consent of the governed - and the lack thereof   H/T Memeorandum
American Thinker:   Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis
Carol's Closet:  Moral imperatives and freedom
Abbey's Road:  Heartlight
Mark Steyn:  Obamacare worth the price to Democrats
Dr. Sanity:   FULL SPEED AHEAD !
Big Government:  Health Care and the Left’s Perverted Definition of ‘Rights’

Father John Speekman on Prayer:  Powerful!!

14 comments:

Fr. John Mary, ISJ said...

Hear, hear!
You said it well. Better than most priests in the pulpit, I might add, with sadness.
We all have a lot to account for...and I am hoping in God's ever present mercy. As for those who are willingly despising Him and His Law...prayer and penance. And hope that they repent!

Mary Ellen said...

Excellent post, Adrienne. I know what you mean by shutting down after being inundated with the nonsense they call news.

During this time of Lent I have been so overwhelmed with what I've been reading in the news and on the blogs because their is just so much darned evil out there. At times I don't even want to get out of bed in the morning (my dog would never have that, however!)

For now I'm just working on recognizing my own sinful ways and doing the best I can to concentrate on the Passion of our Lord.

Thanks for all the great links, I'll get to those later. :-)

Anonymous said...

I agree with the others - excellent post. I was sitting in the car today, wondering about faith and politics.

funny how it goes - I started a small blog a few weeks ago, and now I find myself studying His Word even more.

A lot of lessons to learn - but one is so very clear - there is nothing we can do in life (politics included), which can separate itself from being true to God. a lot of what we do in the name of politics is just that - sin.

Old-Man-Tex (The A-Files)

Lola said...

You Adrienne, are wonderful.

This is the gist. Sin is the root of the matter.

And thank you for quoting Bernard of Clairvaux.

I'm going to link to your post right now, even tho I said I wouldn't post during Lent. (I'm not really posting, for linking is a different story!)

And this business of being 'overwhelmed' is why I take a break from the "news" every so often.

Reaganite Republican said...

Thanks Adrienne, I sure appreciate this post... hits home, I am an adoptee from a Catholic infant home, born of a 17-yr-old HS couple who chose to do the brave, right, and yes -Catholic- thing to do.

Kind of hard for me to tolerate abortion, eh?

Anonymous said...

Kudos on a fine post. It is sad to watch the descent to decay. The end of the tunnel must come soon.

Abbey's Road said...

BRAVO! I intentionally limit "news" intake in my life. There is more rhetoric than truth, and it's a sad day. It is even a more sad day when two Catholics in leading positions in this country condone the killing of the unborn. I do not consider Pelosi or Biden a Catholic, and they might as well stop referring to their chosen faith as Catholicism. It is infuriating!

Adrienne said...

Mary Ellen - it seems some people are just posting to be posting. Married people with jobs posting 15 - 20 times per day. Anything and everything. They have got to be neglecting their duties in life.

Adrienne said...

Lola - some days I just want to scream....

Adrienne said...

Tex - good points to remember. We will all be less stressed if we keep that in mind.

Adrienne said...

James - I wish I could have adopted you but your adopted parents obviously did a wonderful job...

Adrienne said...

mcnorman - there will never be an end to the tunnel in this world. The end of the tunnel might change sizes but it will always be there.

Adrienne said...

Abbey - I find this whole Pelosi/Biden et al to be so shocking and grieve that the Church doesn't do more.

Fr. John Mary, ISJ said...

Adrienne: If it's any consolation: if the Church doesn't deal with Pelosi/Biden in this life, God will in the next.
I would rather deal with sanctions from the Church, repent, and convert.
God, however, is going to take of business...very abruptly!