When in Rome
It's a welcome shelter from the dark storm of self-worship
By MICHAEL COREN
As you read this I am in Rome. Where so many founders of the church lived and were martyred and from where a pristine and sparkling truth emanates and then glides over us like some sweet-smelling cloud to provide shelter from the dark storm of materialism and self-worship.
I am here with my wife. We have been married for more than 20 years, have four children and know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that Easter commemorates His crucifixion and resurrection and that by belief in Him we are offered eternity with the God who made and loves us.
Because of this we are thought to be rather out of step with the times, old-fashioned, extreme or even offensive. Our faith is made fun of, abused and insulted in mainstream media on a daily basis and it has become popular to allege that the problems of the world are caused by people like us.
We are labelled as bigots, racists, fools and fascists. In the Middle East, China and Africa they torture and kill us, in Canada and Europe they marginalize and mock us. And none of it matters one little bit. In fact it is yet more proof that we are right.
If we didn't matter and had nothing of importance to say, nobody would pay us any attention or scream at us. The irrelevant are ignored, the blandly comforting are embraced, the cowardly conformist is adored. But we are mirrors, reflecting the sordid nature of a culture obsessed with itself. Oh how that image burns and hurts.
NOTHING NEW
Legion are the new philosophers with the old philosophies. There is nothing new under the atheist sun, even when it comes in colourful dust jackets and is written by ostensibly clever professors and journalists. They are like tired echoes of ancient pagans, shouting their disbelief as they threw believers to wild animals and tame executioners.
Nothing new under the atheist sun, but everything new under the Son of God. Every morning unwraps with new possibilities of living the Gospel, or proclaiming truth, understanding and the promise of everlasting life.
Easter is love. Authentic, absolute love. Easter is the heavenly link, pulling us back to the creator. Easter is the door opened so we may see God's plan and truly know what, why and who He is. Easter is the sublime within the human, the opportunity for all of us to participate in a delight beyond full understanding.
I could counter the usual arguments with ease. Inquisition, Crusades, Galileo, wars in the name of Christ, bad Christians. All fatuous objections, but all -- and this is vital -- less objections than excuses. Far easier to hide behind digressions than to face head-on the most important question of all time.
Is it or is it not? Is He or is He not? The answer will decide not only the rest of your life, but also where you spend all of the Easters of time to come. The question is being asked now and will be until your body has lived its meager few decades.
Only you can answer. You have been given the freedom because freedom is a product of love. In Rome there are many who have seen and know. In Canada, right now, is it up to you. The cloud of truth hovers. It will never pass away but you will. Easter.
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2008/03/22/5073661-sun.php