The Need of the Hour

The need of the hour is for repentance.  Of course, the need is always for repentance but it is more essential now than ever because we are so unrepentant. We don't see the need for it because we are convinced of our own rectitude.  A perfect example of this comes from the recent marches against President Trump. Without going into the theoretical rights and wrongs of the new American president it is quite evident that those demonstrating see themselves as pillars of goodness. This is one of the most spiritually dangerous of places to be. It leads to pride, usually unrecognised and even regarded as a sign of virtue, self-satisfaction and so deep sin.

Repentance is acknowledgement that you of yourself are not a good person. You need forgiveness for your sinful (i.e. fundamentally egotistical) nature and you have to recognise that need and ask for it as a humble penitent. It's always on offer but you have to ask for it. It is essential for any sort of spiritual progress. The people on the anti-Trump demonstrations (like most demonstrators) are excellent examples of the unrepentant. To a man (or woman) they are convinced that they are good people. In fact they are projecting their own fears, hatreds and insecurities onto someone who is probably more bluster than anything else. Their spiritual pride is plain to see, as is their refusal to consider the possibility that they are acting egotistically. I repeat that the actual rights and wrongs of the object of their ire is relatively unimportant. It is their assumption of personal and group virtue that makes them such good examples of the spiritually unrepentant and shows their fundamental lack of love and forgiveness. They are like the crowd chasing the woman caught in adultery. Though they take the moral high ground it is transparently obvious that their real motivations are more to do with anger and self-righteousness than anything else.

Modern man is heading for spiritual disaster. Unless he stops his denial of God and renounces the belief in his own goodness, independent of his Creator, this world will increasingly become a battleground of divisions and hatreds. The state of our souls is so parlous because the disease is either undiagnosed or else its symptoms are seen as a sign of health. We are building monuments to ourselves and worshipping numerous man-made idols whether these be systems of science, philosophy or politics. We are in the final stages of hubris. The only cure for our disordered state is repentance.

Note:
Repentance is not a one off once in a lifetime matter but something that needs to be practiced on a daily basis until the day we leave this world. Old habits die hard and the ego constantly reasserts itself in a myriad different forms.