The Enemy We Face

It is true that silence is consent, but to be vocal takes so much time...so much energy and Lord knows we all have too much to do! There are after all, family members that need our time and attention, a job to head off to everyday, dishes to be done, laundry to be washed, meals to be cooked, a yard to be cared for etc.etc.etc... We can be tempted to think that this idea of being vocal and getting involved is for other people who have more time on their hands and fewer obligations to meet. But the truth of the matter is that when a crisis arises that is as acute as the fiscal and social upheavals that we Americans face in our country today, our priority list must shift; it must accommodate the time needed to allow us to take our place on the front line of the battle.

This age that we are living through has become the epoch that will define future life in America and speaks volumes about who we are as a people. I cannot help but think of that generation rightfully called ‘Great’, that generation which when faced with fighting the Second World War, understood the necessity of shifting its priorities and rising to the call. They understood the perils of their day. Can we say the same? Do we understand that we really are in peril? The enemy we face today is nothing more than an idea, a way of thinking, a frame of mind, and as such it is much more insidious then any enemy this country has faced in the past. Until recently, this idea has shown itself to be superlatively skilled in taking advantage of our individual weaknesses and problems, telling us what we only think we want to hear and lulling us into complacency by assuring us that our best interests are being looked after and that our every need can be met. Further, with cunning exactitude it, the enemy, has strengthened our complacency by convincing us that our ordinariness has rendered us impudent, telling us that since we have nothing of value to offer, we would be unable to resist its effects even if we had a mind to.

Let it be our prayer that a sink full of dirty dishes will not haunt us to the point of neglecting of our patriotic duties. Let it be our prayer that we will cherish our personal freedoms enough to cast out our lassitude of spirit. And let it be our prayer that the great generation is not behind us but in fact within us.