Articles
Good Times Aren't Forever
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Moab has been at ease from his youth;
He has settled on his dregs,
And has not been emptied from vessel to vessel,
Nor has he gone into captivity.
Therefore his taste remained in him,
And his scent has not changed.
Therefore behold, the days are coming," says the LORD,
"That I shall send him wine-workers
Who will tip him over
And empty his vessels
And break the bottles."
(Jer. 48:11-12)
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In her weekly newsletter, journalist Bari Weiss recently passed along an excellent article about the current unrest in Cuba by a Cuban-American, Antonia Garcia Martinez. Looking beyond the politics of the crisis, Garcia Martinez drew a lesson for Americans. He writes:
"All that Americans have known since World War II is ever higher plateaus of freedom and material wealth, with all the horrors of the world — killing fields, political prisons, autocratic demagogues, a real resistance — held so far out of their mind’s eye they don’t even know what they look like anymore. But there is no law of physics that dictates that the good times must continue. The sad reality is that countries can and do choose to commit suicide . . . Embracing some revolutionary philosophy that promises to heal all ills and right all wrongs, and then exploiting the worst human tendencies to implement that wild-eyed vision, is the sure path to ruin."
As a baby-boomer, that observation struck home with me. Throughout my lifetime, all that my generation has ever known is an ever-increasing standard of living. Oh, there have been a few speed bumps along the way; but the general trend has always been upward. Even during the early years when my family had to tighten our belts a little to make ends meet, we always had a roof over our heads and food to eat. "Bad times" was when the air conditioner konked out and we had to sweat for a few days before the repairman could get it fixed. Tough life, huh?
Garcia Martinez's comments remind us that this gravy train we've been riding for the last several generations is not guaranteed to continue. In fact, if history is any guide, a day will eventually come when Americans will experience a level of deprivation and suffering that we did not think possible. We have convinced ourselves that humanity has moved on from the destitutions of the past, and our comfortable lifestyle is the new normal. But when this edifice of ease we have constructed comes crashing down, the shock wave will take a terrible toll on a people ill-prepared to face it.
Jeremiah's commentary on ancient Moab is a fitting description of our own nation today. We have been at ease for so long, we have forgotten what it's like to truly suffer. We have become soft and apathetic, indifferent to sin and virtue alike--a scenario that, in fact, hastens the coming collapse. Someday our bottles will be broken, too, and those who survive will have to face the future with what little is left in their hands.
For believers, all that will be left may be our faith. And that will be enough to begin anew--if we are ready for it.
--David
