Friday, March 12, 2004
My sister lent me an old paperback book earlier this year, "Wolf and Iron." It's a story about the end of modern civilization, not through war or weather or disease, but by an ordinary falling apart of finances. The world goes back to an iron age, people trade skills for food and life is hard and short. The thing is, there is no mention at all of religion. Nobody in the book prays or goes to church, there is no revival of the way the United States was before this modern, urban age. It's Gordon Dickson's book, so he can write the future any way he wants, but it didn't ring true to me.
Look at how the people in the USA acted after 9/11. In our area, congregations filled up (at least for awhile) and prayer was re-ignited. If society collapsed, don't you think churches would be at the center of trade -- all those people in the community with common beliefs, common trusts. I do.
Religion and God seem very important in the White House these days. George Bush does daily devotions (Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest") and I've heard that his cabinet takes prayer very seriously. President Bush is a Methodist, like I was. I've never done a daily devotional reading, preferring instead "The Year of the Bible" online. Catholics, if I read my Catechism correctly, don't believe it's good to read a daily devotional (one verse which the author explicates into a broader meaning for the day). Catholics believe verses shouldn't be taken out of context, one at time, and examined for meaning; meaning is to be found in context and in tradition.
Look at how the people in the USA acted after 9/11. In our area, congregations filled up (at least for awhile) and prayer was re-ignited. If society collapsed, don't you think churches would be at the center of trade -- all those people in the community with common beliefs, common trusts. I do.
Religion and God seem very important in the White House these days. George Bush does daily devotions (Oswald Chambers, "My Utmost for His Highest") and I've heard that his cabinet takes prayer very seriously. President Bush is a Methodist, like I was. I've never done a daily devotional reading, preferring instead "The Year of the Bible" online. Catholics, if I read my Catechism correctly, don't believe it's good to read a daily devotional (one verse which the author explicates into a broader meaning for the day). Catholics believe verses shouldn't be taken out of context, one at time, and examined for meaning; meaning is to be found in context and in tradition.
