West Laid Waste
West Laid Waste
“Although it is almost unbelievable to imagine this country (the United States of America) being laid waste, yet that is very probably what is going to happen.”
In our present-day “Christian” lust for the latest, greatest revelation, there is an horrific danger; that like so many pigs at the feeding trough, we trample into the dirt the oracles from the lips of the genuinely sent prophets in previous generations!
I am convinced that one such is Thomas Merton (1915-1968). Born of an American mother and New Zealand father, he became “famous” as the Cistercian monk and hermit, Father Louis, at Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, U.S.A. His autobiography “The Seven Storey Mountain” is a modern classic.
On the 27th of February, 1962, Thomas Merton journaled this prophesy,
“Although it is almost unbelievable to imagine this country (America) being laid waste, yet that is very probably what is going to happen. Without serious reason, without people ‘wanting’ it, and without them being able to prevent it, because of their incapacity to use the power they have acquired, they must be used by it.
“Hence the absolute necessity of taking this fact soberly into account and living in the perspective that it establishes -an almost impossible task.
“Preeminence of prayer.
“Preeminence of compassion for all living things … for the human race in its blindness.
“Weariness of words except … in the simplest and most direct kind of communication.
“Preeminence of … meaningful suffering, accepted in complete silence, without justification.”
If this word is indeed from God and is “alive” for the United States 44 plus years on, then it is equally directed to all Western nations … including Britain and New Zealand. In these Last Days there definitely are battles to be fought and a war to win. But,
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6.12)
But we all (both church and state) absolutely must engage this final struggle along God’s lines,
1. Prayer; not aggressive rhetoric wrapped in a flag, which really depends upon our own (limited?) financial and military resources.
“And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘It is written, My House shall be called a house of prayer …’” (Matthew 21.13)
“But this kind (of demon) does not go out except by prayer and fasting.” (Matthew 17.21)
How might the Muslim world have viewed the post-9/11 West if instead of going to “war on terror”, we (Nineveh-like) had covered ourselves with sackcloth and ashes to repent before God and the world for our own sins.
“When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And He did not do it.” (Jonah 3.10)
2. Compassion; not self-serving stereotyping and demonizing of people-groups and religions we covertly despise or feel intimidated by.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son … for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him.” (John 3.16-17)
3. Truth speaking; not slick press releases fabricated by spin doctors employed by wealthy oligarchs.
“God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5.2)
“When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.”
(Proverbs 10.19)
4. Being a Western Christian does not exempt us from participating in the ongoing, redemptive sufferings of Jesus. On the contrary, such suffering is a significant part of our Calling, especially when it comes to spiritual warfare,
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.” (Colossians 1.24)
“And if one member (of Christ’s body) suffers, all the members suffer with it …”
(1 Corinthians 12.26)
This includes those yet to be saved, who are destined at some future time to become as much a part of Jesus’ earthly Body as we now are!
It is never a Christian act to kill those who threaten to kill us! No matter how cunning or abstract or subtle the “theological” justification!
“But I say to you, love your enemies … in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5.44-45)
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.”
(Galatians 6.7)
It would be abject foolishness to expect anything else. Rain does not fall up? Rivers do not flow back into the mountains? If we permit ourselves to hate others; that hatred will be visited upon us. If we make aggressive war on other nations for our own selfish purposes, that war will finally be fought in our own backyards, and also tear our own children from our arms. If we build a nuclear shield, disdaining His overshadowing (Psalm 91.1-8); then what we have constructed to rain down upon others, will in all probability fall on us.
“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty … He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge … you will not be afraid of the terror by night … of the pestilence that stalks in darkness. For you have made the Lord, my refuge, even the most High, your dwelling place.” (Psalm 91.1,4,5,6,9)
“Because of their incapacity to use the power they have acquired, they must be used by it.”
FOOTNOTE
"It should be remembered that the enormous nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia still exist...With massive arsenals (US possesses about 12,000 nuclear weapons and Russia 16,000) still on hair-trigger alert, a global holocaust is just as possible now, through mistakes or misjudgements, as it was during the depths of the Cold War."
(Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States, 2005)
