By Charlie Johnston
Welcome to our new site, “A Sign of Hope.” As the old year came to an end, we saw many promising cracks in the monolithic anti-God culture around us. Pious pretensions in Hollywood, the media, and politics came crashing down in a sudden tumult. Oh, the usual suspects are still braying, but it is the braying of those who are seeing their power slip away and their day pass. In the Middle East it seems that one of the things Jihadists are accomplishing is to convince many Arabs that they don’t want to be Muslims any more. The caliphate of ISIS collapsed suddenly and dramatically last fall. Oh, they still have murderous soldiers, but they no longer control vast swaths of territory. America now recognizes Jerusalem as the capitol of Israel. Despite the best efforts of the anti-Semitic United Nations, other nations are considering similar action – and the Palestinian Arabs’ dreams of accomplishing “peace” by destroying Israel entirely are coming to an end. The captive people of Iran are once again rising against their murderous rulers – and this time with America supporting the people instead of the dictators. Though few know how serious it has gotten, Planned Parenthood is facing a brutally tough year. They are fighting on six or seven fronts – and are on the defensive in all of them. The only reason you don’t know this is because the establishment media has busied itself parroting PP’s talking points, regardless of the facts. But that media will soon look as silly as Baghdad Bob if it doesn’t start reporting what is actually happening in the trenches. Of course, this last year has persuaded me that the establishment media does not care how much it beclowns itself.
Even so, there are many rivers yet to cross, many battles yet to be fought, and many agonized souls yet to be ministered to and given effective witness to the joy which is in Our Lord, Jesus Christ. We will talk here together about culture, the faith, the Church, politics and global affairs from a fully faithful perspective, confident that God is ever with those who call on Him – and in the sure knowledge that the arc of history bends toward communion with the Master.
Beckita remains as managing editor, Steve BC as tech guru, along with most of the rest of the team as we begin this new leg of our pilgrim journey.
The site will be a work in progress over the next week or two, incorporating many of the things you enjoyed and came to expect from the old site, minus the personal prophetic outlook. If you have a suggestion, note it in the comments and we will take a look at it. Truth is, I am fumbling my way through this all over again. It has been four years since I set up a site.
I thought you might be interested in why I chose certain design elements. First, the logo in the little box above my head is, of course, Mt. Meeker, near Estes Park, Colorado. It remains very important and meaningful to me – and I love this photo with the moon over Mt. Meeker. The background starry sky is significant to me, too. If you look at the lower right corner of it you will see the constellation, Orion’s Belt. I don’t know much about constellations beyond the Big and Little Dippers, but when I was on my pilgrimage, I came to appreciate how important the night skies were to people in earlier times. I picked out Orion’s Belt at one time, which I will ever call the ‘Easter Cross,’ because to me it looks like a cross with a sash thrown over it. Before going to sleep most nights, I would find the Easter Cross in the sky and orient myself by it. Finally, I chose the green color as an homage to St. John Paul’s call for a “Springtime of the Gospel.”
I will post two or three times a week. In the next week I have planned a piece about our sexually disordered society entitled, “Love Among the Ruins;” a piece on the foundation of legitimate authority, and will reprint my meditation on the Book of Job, entitled “Into the Whirlwind.”
May this be a glorious New Year for Christians and for all – a year where people learn how to live simple joy and happiness again, by living the ordinary call to acknowledge God, take the next right step, and be a sign of hope to those around you. May we all be Signs of Hope to each other throughout this year.
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