What’s going on?

 
Filed on 18 April 2010 in Speeches category. Print This Page

Meditation from Cradle Mountain Chateau, Tasmania: What’s going on?

The small picture is that I am sitting here in front of the log fire in one of the libraries at Cradle Mountain Chateau looking out over the rain-swept forest and the fold after fold of ranges, thinking shall I just stay here and write or is it best to coax Lizzie from her book and go for another walk?

Slightly bigger looms the question of accommodation for tomorrow night but who cares just so long as there is a warm bed.

Another level of complexity is the medical practice work and arranging meetings prior to the federal election and writing everything that needs to be written.  Impossible is the word that comes to mind – I am glad that God is in charge of the agenda.  Even meeting Ed Dermer MLC (North Metropolitan) and Geraldine Burgess the new Labor candidate for Moore on the day I get back as both she and I will be running against Dr Mal Washer – no hope of winning of course but the idea is to wake people up.

But then there is the bigger picture of the threats to our world posed by the threats to sustainable environment and the threats of human conflict including unchecked and indiscriminate civilian destruction by those who hate enough and are prepared to destroy themselves in the process – how can this possibly be checked without also killing those who are innocent?  Is there an answer?

Yet there is another level of complexity and that is our self-destruction as CSLewis wrote in 1943 The Abolition of Man with the abandonment of moral law and decay of values into relativity and rejection of absolutes.

But we are not finished – there is the battle being played out at a higher level still between principalities and powers that are unseen; between the Princes of this world and the angels.  And we have a role to play in this battle also.

Yes, we have a responsibility to do the normal things we do to maintain the day-to-day structure of life and society – things that should not be ignored.  Nor should we dwell unnecessarily on the danger that lurks nor should we cause undue fear particularly amongst those that tend to be fearful of the future anyway.

CSLewis also wrote about the responsibility of students back in England to engage in their study while others were fighting at the front.

But we are not talking now about some battle ‘over there’ – the battle is here in our society, at our doorstep.  It is in our schools and universities and parliaments; it is in our TV room.  It is being waged by our media and by university professors and by civil libertarians.  Christian values are under attack and if we protest then we are told “religious people have no right to push their values down other people’s necks”.

We cannot be neutral in such things.  We must hold to a view and at the very least be prepared to defend it when under attack.

And God’s people are asleep or do not realise the enormity of what is at stake.  What’s worse they may be unwittingly supporting the enemy.  Do they understand the pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, pro-alternative sexuality agendas and pro-single-sex family agendas being taught in our schools – and being threatened in our Christian schools – and that such have found their way into political party policy?

War is on our doorstep and we are asleep.  What will you do O Christian?  Will you be a watchman?  Will you warn your neighbour about the approaching calamity or will you just build your ark yet refuse to say why?  Bonhoeffer, when referring to the silent church in Germany, warned of people shrinking into their sanctuaries of private virtuousness.

And if not now, when will you warn?

Shepherds of the flock, you who ought to understand the signs of the times – when will you tell your people about these things, many of whom just have no idea of the approaching calamity?

Lachlan Dunjey May 2007.

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