Winter comes to Amerika. I think the scale is interesting as well as the idea of WWII as an extended, high-level SHTF event in Europe.
A few days ago, Bruce Charleton talked about the impossibility of politics for Christians. I am much more sympathetic to this view than I was twenty or even ten years ago. I used to believe that electing "Christian" leaders would make a difference. I know now that it won't as long as the system itself remains in place. Christian politicians get co-opted and become captive to the corrupted, dysfunctional matrix of a massive central government. It is akin to fighting a wild fire with the sprinkler you use to water your house plants.
Do you know the best way to keep your house from being burned up in a brush fire? Build in a clearing, or create a clearing around the house. Keep all the tall trees at a distance. Clear the brush. Keep grass and anything combustible cropped close to the ground.
This illustrates a principle in our pursuit of prudence. You and I have no control over people who like to set fires. We do not control where lightning strikes. We are wise to assume that brush fires will take place. We can only prepare and attempt to protect that which is under our control.
Get to know your neighbors. Build networks with family, friends, people in your community, people at your church. Be trustworthy. Be wise as serpents but harmless as doves.
A few days ago, Bruce Charleton talked about the impossibility of politics for Christians. I am much more sympathetic to this view than I was twenty or even ten years ago. I used to believe that electing "Christian" leaders would make a difference. I know now that it won't as long as the system itself remains in place. Christian politicians get co-opted and become captive to the corrupted, dysfunctional matrix of a massive central government. It is akin to fighting a wild fire with the sprinkler you use to water your house plants.
Do you know the best way to keep your house from being burned up in a brush fire? Build in a clearing, or create a clearing around the house. Keep all the tall trees at a distance. Clear the brush. Keep grass and anything combustible cropped close to the ground.
This illustrates a principle in our pursuit of prudence. You and I have no control over people who like to set fires. We do not control where lightning strikes. We are wise to assume that brush fires will take place. We can only prepare and attempt to protect that which is under our control.
Get to know your neighbors. Build networks with family, friends, people in your community, people at your church. Be trustworthy. Be wise as serpents but harmless as doves.
Good advice Mushroom. Like you I once believed that Christians could make a substantial difference in politics, and in times past they have. I'm thinking specifically of William Wilberforce and the abolition of slavery in Britain for example. However, that took place within a culture that was broadly animated by a Biblical world view. Those days have long gone.
ReplyDeleteExcellent advice Mush!
ReplyDeleteIt does absolutely no good to fret about that which we have no control over.
And building trustworthy networks (and being trustworthy) is wise.