The dark ages before us

“The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide.” — T. S. Eliot, Thoughts After Lambeth, 1931.”

“Before the third war, there will be taxes that nobody can pay.” — Alois Irlmaier (1894-1959) as quoted in Alois-Irlmaier.de

The following has been published before by this blogger in essence. I wish I had the talent others have to write plainly. I share the same condition with St. Paul: God did not give me the grace of clarity. But enough of that! Let us get into the matter at hand. I have quoted T. S. Eliot’s words above so many times because I think it’s a perfect description of the pickle we are in.

We have been living in a social experiment since Pope Julius II who decided to demolish the original St. Peter’s Basilica some five-hundred years ago. He then proceeded to shake down Catholic Europe to get the money to build a big round basilica, he was perhaps the initiator of the “build back better” concept — that’s how we got the St. Peter’s Basilica that we see today, still standing as I write on October 22, 2024.

Along with the bigger and rounder basilica we got the German Reformation, the Western Schism, the 30 Year War and a long “etcetera.” Talk about expensive renovations! The Catholic Church was never the same since those days. Thanks, Julius!

By the time T. S. Eliot wrote Thoughts After Lambeth, the project he warned us about was well under way. Today we are approaching the project’s completion to be shortly followed by Eliot’s predicted collapse and dark ages to come.

We do have some idea of the disorder approaching. I will attempt to describe the way it will unfold but first we have to understand the rôle of the Church in the world.

Salt and Light — Earth and World

‘You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled under foot. ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5: 13-16)

According to Jesus, the Church is the salt of the earth. Salt is a natural preservative. The Church is therefore preserving nature from completely decaying. God will preserve nature because His flock depends on it for its survival. Since God is the Great Benefactor, He has given us a nice planet to live in. We are in charge of and we must care for it.

However, the earth is not the world. “World” is a different concept. Earth is our planet and the natural systems that comprise it: minerals, plants, animals, etc. The world is composed of people, tribes, nations that are in constant flux through. They need light, intelligence, wisdom to make choices as they live. (Please see Isaiah 60:19 and Revelation 21:23; 22:5) Both earth and world are deeply connected concepts. Jesus appears to present them to us as two different entities in need of preservation (salt) and direction (light) — Having that in mind we can go back to T. S. Eliot’s quote.

” … attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality” is futile endeavor if one thinks about it. That is why Eliot is so sure that the experiment will fail. If Christians disappear from the world —either by extinction or apostasy— the world and the earth would have lost its reason to be preserved. Darkness would ensue and then the end of history would come for everyone. Eliot is conscious of that and he is right in calling it a “suicide” because that is exactly what it is.

The good part of Jesus’ teaching should give us peace of mind. It is obvious that God has a purpose for our planet and for mankind. It is also obvious that no one can thwart God’s plans. We know that somehow His earth will be preserved and those who want to be His sons and daughters will survive the upheavals to come as a result of the crazy plans of some humans.

We must help by preparing ourselves to trust because the situation will become in appearance quite desperate. Think about it and prepare your mind for the shocking things we will have to go through. Think of the disciples in the boat during the storm.

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. A gale arose on the lake, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him up, saying, ‘Lord, save us! We are perishing!’ And he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid, you of little faith?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. They were amazed, saying, ‘What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?’ (Matthew 8:23-27)

What sort of man is Jesus? He is the God that loved us all the way to the Cross. He is the one who will help us rebuild civilization when the ordeal caused by human stupidity is over. He will come to serve us. Not to kill us, not to exploit us, not to demean us but to lovingly serve us. It is there in the Gospels: “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matthew 20:28, Mark 10:45, John 13:1-17)

“Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.” (Luke 12:37)

Christ will come to serve us and Eliot’s “dark ages before us” will become the dark ages behind us.