"Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side.
God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world.
When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else — something it never entered your head to conceive — comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.
It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realised it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it."
C. S. Lewis, 1944
"Let us profit by what every day and hour teaches us, as it flies. What is dark while it is meeting us, reflects the Sun of Righteousness when it is past. Let us profit by this in future, so far as this, to have faith in what we cannot see. The world seems to go on as usual. There is nothing of heaven in the face of society; in the news of the day there is nothing of heaven; in the faces of the many, or of the great, or of the rich, or of the busy, there is nothing of heaven; in the words of the eloquent, or the deeds of the powerful, or the counsels of the wise, or the resolves of the lordly, or the pomps of the wealthy, there is nothing of heaven.
And yet the Ever-blessed Spirit of God is here; the Presence of the Eternal Son, ten times more glorious, more powerful than when He trod the earth in our flesh, is with us. Let us ever bear in mind this divine truth,—the more secret God's hand is, the more powerful—the more silent, the more awful.
Wonderful providence indeed which is so silent, yet so efficacious, so constant, so unerring. This is what baffles the power of Satan. He cannot discern the Hand of God in what goes on; and though he would fain meet it and encounter it, in his mad and blasphemous rebellion against heaven, he cannot find it."
John Henry Newman
Pride blinds Satan from seeing the works of the Lord.
It is the first and greatest sin.
Those who harden their hearts with pride, and aloof disdain, have invited the parasite of evil to latch onto their souls, and drain themselves of the vitality of true life, which is love.
The range in the equity futures markets was a bit surprising really.
The same with the precious metals.
Unless you have actively speculated in the futures markets, ranges of this magnitude are not so impressive perhaps.
I suspect that there were more 'technical' shenanigans involved in this, despite the attribution of the talking heads to the sudden realization that there is a new strain of the virus in the UK.
The rally in the miners while the metals were slumping was also of interest.
I like to think of this sort of thing as cleaning and sanding the tape, before the year end paint is applied.
It did tend to clear out the small specs I would imagine.
Please remember our friend and fellow blogger Tony Sanders in your prayers. He is still in hospital, struggling with pneumonia and the coronavirus.
And of course, we pray for all those who are affected by illness and hardships, often made worse by the pride and willful ignorance of others.
Have a pleasant evening.
