I just started learning the true definition of the term for our Humanities class here at W.C.C., where we just finished reading the Iliad of Homer and are in the midst of Homer's Odyssey, learning the definition of an epic as a tale that entangles the cosmos as a whole with the fate of a nation and that of individuals.
There are epics in literature, but is history an epic, is there a grand saga of entanglement in the world? It seems quite so.
Consider the past fifteen years of American and world history. From day to day, year to year, in the moment, in history, everything feels different in some way from what we may think of as "ordinary times".
Of course there are surprises in every age, conspiracies, threats, movements, and the like, but has there really been anything to compare with the past few years. In comparison over ages there is no equivalency between disparate moments at any time, but we are truly entering into a new age, a new uncertainty in many respects. We are living in an "epic".
In three days we face the 2018 midterm elections, a choice that many on both sides believe will determine the fate of America in its survival or destruction.
There are epics in literature, but is history an epic, is there a grand saga of entanglement in the world? It seems quite so.
Consider the past fifteen years of American and world history. From day to day, year to year, in the moment, in history, everything feels different in some way from what we may think of as "ordinary times".
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| Achilleus' Rage - Anything like the modern rage we see now? |
Of course there are surprises in every age, conspiracies, threats, movements, and the like, but has there really been anything to compare with the past few years. In comparison over ages there is no equivalency between disparate moments at any time, but we are truly entering into a new age, a new uncertainty in many respects. We are living in an "epic".
In three days we face the 2018 midterm elections, a choice that many on both sides believe will determine the fate of America in its survival or destruction.
In the midst of political turmoil and calls for violence in America, confusion ensues in the church.
War is on the verge of breaking out involving Saudi Arabia (that is, yet another war as the Middle East is in constant and obvious turmoil)
Russia and China are preparing for war, likely with America as the target
And there is more, and more...
The world is full of rage seemingly like that of Achilleus, or worse, and confusion and pride not un
We are in a fateful moment for our country, for our world - But, God is in control.
This is the message of the Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, that the individual is bound up entirely with the fate of the cosmos, or in more Christian terms, God's will and man's response to it.
This is the state of our present, each of us, everyone, is involved, and everything is enmeshed in God's will and plan. But as illustrated in C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces, that plan is unknown to us, until it happens, and may never be fully understood.
No one knows what will happen November 6th but God. The violence, energy, stakes, fear and turmoil point to this epic, however. Like Achilleus or Odysseus we are bound up in something larger than ourselves, something we cannot control, but, are given power to affect.
We have three days left; may God have mercy on us and our country...
Pray for it, for us, for wisdom and the truth to spread.
The world is full of rage seemingly like that of Achilleus, or worse, and confusion and pride not un
We are in a fateful moment for our country, for our world - But, God is in control.
This is the message of the Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, that the individual is bound up entirely with the fate of the cosmos, or in more Christian terms, God's will and man's response to it.
This is the state of our present, each of us, everyone, is involved, and everything is enmeshed in God's will and plan. But as illustrated in C.S. Lewis's Till We Have Faces, that plan is unknown to us, until it happens, and may never be fully understood.
No one knows what will happen November 6th but God. The violence, energy, stakes, fear and turmoil point to this epic, however. Like Achilleus or Odysseus we are bound up in something larger than ourselves, something we cannot control, but, are given power to affect.
We have three days left; may God have mercy on us and our country...
Pray for it, for us, for wisdom and the truth to spread.
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