The Misguided Sheep | Far from the Madding Crowd

 

My husband and I recently watched the 2015 movie version of Far from the Madding Crowd, based on the Thomas Hardy novel. Carey Mulligan stars as the fiesty, independent heroine, Bathsheba Everdene, with Matthias Schoenaerts playing one of three men vying for her affections, shepherd Gabriel Oak. 

Curiously perhaps, today's Mass readings from the Douay-Rheims Bible reminded me of a scene from this movie. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand (Psalm 95: 7) He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth (Luke 11: 23). 

Farmer Oak is training a new sheep dog to replace his beloved, aging dog, Old George. The younger dog is named Young George. One night, for reasons unknown, Young George jumps into the sheeps' pen, disturbing them to the point that they break free. The renegade pup drives them into a frantic run. Gabriel awakens to the commotion, and by the time he catches up to the flock, he watches in horror as every single sheep plunges over the side of a cliff. The sight of the dead flock on the ocean shore below is chilling. You can guess what happens to Young George. 

Something akin to this is happening in today's society, as we continue to be goaded into a frenzy and feel ourselves falling without a net. Maybe the most disturbing aspect of the coronavirus cult response by government leaders, medical "experts," and much of the population is the "fear porn," as it has been called by some of its opponents. Mainstream news media and big tech social media have conspired with the cult leaders to keep people disempowered, silenced, and terrified. The only break from the maddening narrative we've gotten over the past year has been the Marxist revolt of the Black Lives Matter and Antifa organizations, which have delivered their own brand of fear porn while taking attention away from the Covid Theater. 

The likes of Dr. Fauci, emperor-like state governors and city mayors, some members of the police force, the Marxist groups, and the hard left media have become society's shepherds, and clear marks of their misguided sheep are the citizens complying with mask mandates and lockdowns. The sheep at the bottom of the cliff are those driven to suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, and poverty, among the many victims of the coronacult fallout. 

Others, mostly traditional Christians it seems, have found a new fervor of faith, and we have our gaze fixed firmly on our eternal Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. All of the false leaders are truly idols that many have chosen to follow, out of fear, out of lack of faith and the action that it requires. They reject the Way, the Truth, and the Life for a story of despair and bondage. The path of a holy freedom is too narrow, so they enter at the wide gate and refuse to consider turning back. The consequence is an existence frought with anxiety, a loss of one's sense of self, an isolation we were not created to endure. It is nothing short of the crushing of the spirit, the piercing of the soul.

The question is, are you gathering or scattering?  The choice is actually simple, though not easy, and comes down to a daily decision to act either with Faith or in fear. Bathsheba Everdene reacted for a long time out of fear of losing her independence, so she refused to marry. That is, until she inexplicably made an impetuous decision to surrender to the wrong man. Her heart led her astray, as can anyone's. It seems to take forever for our heroine to turn to the shepherd who has always been there for her, who continuously watches over her, waiting with extreme patience for Bathsheba to finally come to her senses. 

This brings me to the third of the everyday duties from Achieving Peace of Heart that I've been exploring and discussing this Lent: to elevate and control my heart (love of God and neighbor).  As Jesus commands that we love our neighbors as ourselves, we must first love God with the entirely of heart, mind, soul, and strength before we will be oriented in the right direction. Putting one's faith in the world's idols puts the whole flock in danger. A heart lifted to God and obedient to his sovereignty puts all other considerations into perspective. 

Recently, "medical" advice was given to parents that if a child was exposed to Covid, he should be isolated in a room by himself for two weeks, with no hugs or any closeness with family members, eating meals alone and doing everything completely by himself. If he were to venture into the hallway to use the restroom, he must be wearing a mask. I can only imagine the emotional scars a child would suffer under such conditions, yet some people think this kind of approach falls under the dictate of common sense. In reality, it's a call to heartlessness. These are the extremes that being in compliance to the absurd has led us to, and if such totalitarianism continues to be allowed, we will see far worse in the future. 

It's imperative that we recognize the evil and stop listening to the barking of orders that has caused this coronacult stampede and its ultimate perilous jump into collective mayhem and madness.  Be the one sheep that is found. 

Soul Searching

A situation occurred in one of my Facebook groups which required me to reactivate. I'll reflect on that in a moment. One good thing about being back "on" was that a friend had been looking for me, and we had a nice chat. She relayed how she had struggled with Facebook herself and found a solution by unfollowing most of her friends. So there is another suggestion for simplifying the process. You can still be active on social media, but you can take control of what you see. I don't personally know this awesome woman, but she is a fellow Catholic, and she told me that she has been doing a lot of soul searching. I'm right there with her.

Pope Francis is visiting the United States right now for the first time in his life. And this morning he addressed a joint session of Congress, the first pope in history ever to do so. I was in my car trying to catch his speech on the radio, but the reception wasn't great, and combined with his accent, he was difficult to understand. I'm certain it will be available to listen to or watch another time. I decided to focus as much as I could on Francis' voice, on his tone, even more than on what he was actually saying. I noticed how slowly he spoke, with such care. And although they were supposed to hold their applause, his audience members could not contain themselves. From what I heard afterward, politicians from both sides of the aisle were very moved. Francis wants America to become a land of dreams once again.

Indeed. My country seems a long way from the land of the free and the home of the brave that she once was. The small town I live in provides little opportunity for gainful employment. Many empty store fronts line its main street. People here are very brave. They try to get a restaurant, or a boutique, or an arts center going. It's discouraging to see these efforts take off, then struggle, then ultimately fail. And some people are very, very sensitive to any criticism of the village. How can we form a vision for where we wish the community to go if we refuse to see the truth? The run down houses, the drunks, the meth labs, the abused and neglected children, the profanity heard loudly on the streets. The pope sees all of it and shines a spotlight on the stark realities.

So the moderator I put in charge of one of my groups while I was taking a hiatus from Facebook voiced a concern regarding two girls she personally knew who had broken an arm during recess at school, both within a week. This was in fact the third girl she knew that this had happened to at the same school, and while the discussion was going on, she found out about two more broken bone incidents since the last two. One happened on the way to school, and the other occurred while a child was playing near the school on the weekend. While my friend acknowledged that these events could certainly all have been a bad luck coincidence, it seemed very odd in such a small town. She wanted to know if others might have some insight into the situation.

This moderator simply questioned whether the recess accidents might have occurred due to insufficient supervision. She also shared her experience as a teacher. Most group members were polite, but a couple attacked her and accused her of bashing the school. Absolutely no one consented that it was even a remote possibility that the kids aren't being watched well enough on the playground.

This is a little thing compared to abortion, war, terrorism, and hunger, but bear with me. These angry folks want to censor others who say anything they don't like. They jump all over anyone who brings a problem into focus. I won't allow the censorship. I won't allow bullying. And even if not a single soul sees things one person's way, that doesn't mean that person is wrong. It isn't wrong to question, to be concerned, to hold our public servants accountable. It's perfectly okay, and even necessary, to keep a watch on those local institutions to which our taxpayer dollars go. If we can't be realistic about one little town, if we can't have civilized conversations and disagreements on social media, if all we want is to have perfume blown up our you-know-whats, then how on earth can we be effective as a citizenry when it comes to monumental national issues?

People don't want honesty and sincerity anymore, unless you are singing a Snow White happy song surrounded by turtledoves. But the Christian Faith is the narrow road. It ain't gonna make you popular to sound your horn of justice. To say, hey look, there's an ogre living next door who tears babies apart and eats them for breakfast! (And sells the leftovers for profit.)

I was amazed that during the recent GOP debate, the topic of education was not addressed at all, except for a brief mention by one candidate, in a tone of disdain, that another was a fan of Common Core. The unconstitutional, federal Department of Education and its liberty robbing agenda needs to be faced like a fearless bullfighter against a brutal beast. I hope the next president has a red cape and a spine to drape it across.

Expect me to be even more frank than usual. My soul is melancholy. My heart hurts. The evil in the world is overwhelming. Jesus didn't pussy foot around. He was kind, healing, humble, loving, and compassionate. He also turned over the market tables in the Temple. He broke man's laws when they were not in harmony with God's. He did not mince words or endeavor to be politically correct or falsely diplomatic. His own hometown people tried to throw him off a cliff. Luckily I live in a very flat land.