I was born in 1960. When I was a kid, Vietnam was raging & took my oldest brother. I witnessed the birth of rock & roll, the moon landing, and the "Summer of Love" from the perspective of a child. We played outside until the street lights came on. We rode bikes, broke bones, and got filthy. We were happy and safe, all in all.
In my teens, I saw the decadence and recession of the 70's, experienced fear-free sex, saw music and art change everything, the end of a decade long war, and the ignominious fall of a President. It was an exciting time in my life, but a tough time for our country.
In my 20's - the 80's - I saw Reagan tell Gorbachev to tear down the wall, saw the fall of communism, saw Van Halen’s original lineup (Life changing), and went to a college that taught me how to pursue a career, not an ideology. Along the way, I discovered booze and drugs - and I liked them. A lot. I learned to self-medicate my own depression, and began a struggle I would be involved in for the rest of my life. Except that in the 80’s, I wasn’t struggling with it - I was embracing the suck, and for a time I was good with that.
In my 30's - the 90's - I married, cut way back on the booze & drugs (for awhile), bought my 1st house, witnessed the birth of my 1st child and the internet; but I also began to notice something; Our dialogue changed. Our honesty began to erode, our divisions began to become more apparent. The press began to lie - but no one cared. We were too busy. We were too prosperous. It didn't matter that lies became part of the dialogue, posing as truths. All of the government's lies and machinations that would harm our children for decades were suddenly "For the children", and the word "SPIN" replaced the word "LIE" in politics and the press.
Then came Y2K - and then 9/11, the IPhone, social media, and more war. I divorced, and I picked up the bottle in earnest again. I had long before realized that politicians aren't working for us as much as for themselves - but it became pernicious. It became stark, and hard, and evil - and even deadly. In the 1st decade of this century, I saw massive, exciting advances in technology and science, but I also saw a rapid decline in our morals, and the divisions that would later define us began to widen. We began to become shamelessly tribal, and to hate our own fellow citizens. But even then, I believed in America. I believed we would overcome.
In 2010, I hit 50. And in this decade, the divisions became stark. Racism, which I believed had become a dark stain on our past, became a national obsession. My ongoing, undiagnosed depression became almost unbearable, but I kept moving. I kept breathing in and out.
The media became a monster, working to mold political and social values like never before, but you could find truth if you knew where to look. There were still a few in our government that at least appeared to be working for the People.
All was not lost, but the odor of national decay was there. Art began to transform into something darker, music became hollow and meaningless, God was mocked, and I began to seriously consider my mortality along with the possibility that our nation could go the way of all great empires much faster than any before it.
Now it is 2021, and next month, I will be 61. My clinical depression is a thing of the past thanks to modern medicine, and again I've put the bottle away - but I don't recognize my country, my people, or my place. Joy seems a rarity, dialogue is the noise of parrots and crows, disease and death are our constant companions; And yet - even now, no longer a young man, I have a singular hope: That all we are seeing, all that we are doing - and all that we know - will soon transition.
I believe there will be blood, and there will be sorrow like we've never known, but we will emerge fresh, and whole, and new.
My hope resides in the risen Christ. And I am comforted in knowing that ALL that we are seeing was foretold. The wonderful news that will come from ALL of this, is that my faith, and the faith of millions, is about to be proven and its rewards realized without doubt, and for all time.
When I view life in this frame of mind, the noise lessens, fear ebbs, my breathing slows, my heart beats at a slower pace, and I know that it's been a wonderful life. I am thankful for the chance to have lived it. I am grateful. I pray that every person reading this will know what I have learned - that the machinations of men, while they may occupy your mind, or may anger, sadden, or terrify you - are nothing. Our country may never recover, but in the end that also means nothing. We who believe are already free, and will remain so, forever.
We've known this for over 2K years, as it was promised and can still be read - just pick up a Bible.
GOD BLESS AMERICA - BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, GOD BLESS YOU ALL. LOVE WILL WIN, AND PEACE IS COMING.
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