Too late have I come to this state. Already winter is taking over. It is really cold.
Chicago is a daunting place, too energetic for me. London is different, as one identifies
with a village, a town, once separated, now part of a larger identity. But, one in London
is still from Bayswater, or West Kensington, not merely London.
Here, the Chicagoans want to identify with this amorphous place. I used to visit
this bustling city as a teen, shopping with my mom after Thanksgiving, when the
cold wind ripped through one's coat. Exciting and optimistic times died in the
grass-roots of Alinsky. This Windy City is about to experience a sea-change.
Now, I am glad to be leaving this place, for all of its energy is focused on the
City of Man and not the City of God. One senses the brain fog, like the grayness
of the Lake, numbing people into thinking the same old same old will continue.
It will not. It is not. I grieve a bit at the lack of understanding I am finding here.
Too many people think America will not become like the broken big brother
of Europe, too many people believe Americans will rise up against tyranny.
That Americans have chosen tyranny for years seem to escape their imaginations.
Where are the leaders and the heroes among the Catholics?
A quiet hush hides the machine of change. It is the complacency of the City of Man.
Do Catholics understand St. Augustine's definitions of the City of God as opposed to the City of Man?
Are they thinking of the differences? The City of God must be built even as the City of Man decays. The City of God is not a millennial-type of utopia, but the spiritual city to which we, as baptized Catholics, all belong.
But, it must be built. It just "does not happen".
As Rome was falling to bits, a new society was being built, with blood, sweat and tears-the blood of the martyrs, the sweat of the bishops and clergy and the tears of prayer.
Seriously, I am concerned about priorities among Catholics here. "We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come."
Our priority since baptism is eternal life. But, again, this just does not happen.
I had a lovely student years ago who was not turning in bi-weekly updates on a history project. Finally, after much discussion and follow-up on my part, the term ended. The young lady, when asked, yet again, where her project was, said to me "It just did not happen."
Her passing grade did not just happen, either.
She was given ample opportunities to meet me, work with me, show me her progress.
It just did not happen. Some people do not understand what work actually means.
Work as you have never worked before in the Church Militant to build up the City of God.
Work, pray, think, reflect....
