Primo Levi
“Each day we are becoming a creature of splendid glory, or one of unthinkable horror.”
C. S. Lewis
"The ruled always took the morality imposed upon them more seriously than did the rulers themselves— the deceived masses are today captivated by the myth of success even more than the successful are. Immovably, they insist on the very ideology which enslaves them. The misplaced love of the common people for the wrong which is done to them is a greater force than the cunning of the authorities."
Theodor Adorno
"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities."
Voltaire
"And Jesus said, 'The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels. Just as weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all who cause others to sin and all who do evil.'"
Matthew 13:36-40
"We are slow to master the great truth that even now Christ is, as it were, walking among us, and by His hand, or eye, or voice, bidding us to follow Him."
J. H. Newman
"A true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, we are not going to be judged.”
Czeslaw Milosz, Discreet Charm of Nihilism
The Jobs Report data this morning was a bit subdued, showing less employment than expected including downward revisions of past numbers.
Most of the adults had already left for their extended holiday weekend, so the market trade was light.
And apparently the word was out, to take the markets lower.
The Dollar soared on hawkish interest rate expections and gold and silver did a whipsaw retreat.
Wash-rinse-repeat.
US markets will be closed on Monday for Labor Day.
And so nominally ends the summer time of vacation.
Knowing the right thing to do is mostly obvious. And so we spend an enormous amount of time and energy convincing ourselves that we do not see it. Our love grows cold because we smother it.
"And Abraham said, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not change and repent, even if someone were to come back from the dead.’” Luke 16:31
This is the insidious perversity of sin. It is the foolishness that springs from pride, the impulse to reject life, and throw our own life away— for a quick thrill and a laugh and a lie.
It is no accident that the mob of January 6th embraced lawlessness with a carnival atmosphere. And afterwards were stunned when confronted with the consequences of their foolishness.
Many thought they were just worked up and fooling about, but in the end they were playing for blood— for deceivers, wicked and unworthy. It seems to be a recurring theme throughout history, of every twisted justification for a quick personal gain or even mass lawlessness and destruction.
“Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, or even a duty. Sin is not a distance, it is a turning of our gaze in the wrong direction." Simone Weil
Some of our finest people are doing it. In certain circles it has become fashionable, a sign of sophistication, to lie and to cheat, and to mislead others into darkness.
But people never seem to see the consequences of evil in their own case, until judgement comes, and they are done.
The read words like those above, nod in assent, and then forget and turn away again, in the unthinking service of dark powers. They are enslaved, but do not see it, they become comfortable in it, and seek to spread it to those who trust and believe in them.
See you Tuesday.
Remember me in your prayers, as I remember you.
Have a pleasant weekend.
