From one of the first anointed preaching messages I ever heard when I was a rookie Christian years ago I remember the clear and haunting words, “Sin is progressive…”

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I’ve visited this theme several times over the course of this blog. It is not an easy thing to face. Sin begins at a single point. It then grows. It rides along a rising wave gaining strength. In time it proliferates. In further time it rises higher and then suddenly starts shooting upward exponentially as on the right side of an intangible graph. If nothing stops its advance, and nothing often does, it goes forth and it conquers. Sin is truly progressive…

For the overly fearful among us, the notion of sin and evil running so out of control that next to nothing can be done about it can be petrifying. It is why most don’t want to touch the subject. Such an approach is not necessarily a rejection of such facts but akin to hiding them away in a far corner of a dank and dusty immaterial attic or burying them out somewhere in a nondescript field without a marker. The idea that an evil so great and powerful lurks in our midst taking precedence over our lives regardless of benign exteriors to the contrary is simply too much to deal with for most.

When one actually does look into it, even for a brief few seconds of consideration, seeing the distinct possibility, and maybe even venturing to the edge of the shocking reality though still at a presumably secure distance, it often causes a gut reaction and an instant recoil back to safety, as one may force a waking state from a nightmare to escape the spine-chilling terror thereof.

This is why most people have succumbed to ignoring the great hidden evil or claiming its non-existence. It is due both to being either unable or unwilling to face it for the great fear factor involved because of the shock such fear does to one’s system, or because they know inherently they have no means of battling it, fighting successfully against it, overcoming it, and thus eliminating it. They know the evil is simply too great and they are not strong enough to duke it out as one may win fights against far-lesser foes, or that they do not have the necessary tools of warfare, as one is well aware of the futility of bringing a dull butter knife to a gun fight.

Humans know this. Or, they used to. Maybe the vast majority has run so far away as yellow-striped cowards over the last several decades and more that such a weak-response attitude has become embedded in the DNA of present generations. Maybe the blindness that has thus ensued has reached a point of mass all-encompassing willful sightlessness that most could never see it no matter what obvious facts are presented or even if the Sacred and Holy written Word of God is used as potent searchlight.

I remember once, at a deer hunting lease, our small group of men, all family, had to go out one late afternoon right before the season started to check on some feeders or something. Among our group was one young man who had never been out in the deep woods that far. It was his first hunting venture. As we dealt with the last tasks in the growing evening it quickly grew almost dark. Being heavily overcast in mid-autumn with little or no moon, the recognizable was fading fast. The sunlight through the deep clouds had drifted off surreptitiously rather quickly and it was soon night.

Anyone who has experienced this scenario knows of what I speak. Normally in such conditions one would already have a fire going in camp and the dark/light ratio is not noticed so much, especially amid the usual supper activities and whatnot of that time. Out in the brush, however, there was no fire and no light other than our small handheld flashlights which work good at seeing the immediate surroundings but not so much that the enveloping shroud of deep darkness all around doesn’t have the clear upper hand.

Then someone thought it would be cool to douse them for a while. We turned off our lights. The great darkness of the deep woods out in the middle of nowhere instantly invaded our immediate presence and let us know who the boss was, at least in that moment. It was total blackness. Then, as our eyes adjusted somewhat, the distant starlight muted by the dark overcast unseen clouds above filtered in, at least toward a point of seeing enough to know we were at a supreme disadvantage. The eyes of the wild were on sudden alert and we must have surely appeared as easy targets. We beheld the wonder momentarily.

The two older men, though with necessary respect and a positive appreciation, thought nothing of it having experienced it many times. Deer hunting is such that you enter your blind or climb a tree in the pitch black darkness of cold mornings and leave them the same way after the evening hunt. The two younger men probably thought it was an interesting experience but was, of course, nothing new. But the young lad had never been in such a situation. We stood there briefly in the great darkness of the wild world and allowed ourselves a chance at natural reality and spiritual perception. All was quiet.

The young one, however, was a tad shaken. Knowing full well he was fully protected and had the security of strong company and family ties did little to stop the deep impression on his young heart of just what this world is apart from our technological advances and artificial surroundings.

He felt relieved when we turned our flashlights on and headed back…

© 2022 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. [To Be Continued]

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IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (2)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (3)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (4)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (5)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (6)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (7)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (8)

IF YOU’RE WONDERING WHEN THIS EVIL WILL END… (9)