Thinking about this some more—I realize that really it taps into a larger theme I’ve been thinking about a lot, which is the way the bible (particularly the New Testament, in verses like 1 Corinthians 13:12) frames “the last days” and times of crisis. https://twitter.com/DialHForHagai/status/1289183473941377027

There’s a recurring theme there—as @mountain_goats so eloquently voices it in “Against Pollution”: “We will recognize each other, and see ourselves, for the first time, the way we really are.” I think I’ve tweeted before about the two ways in which you can read this line.

One is the more cosmic/spiritual ascensionist/transcendent approach, of reaching a higher level, a higher form of consciousness, a higher world; but I prefer to read it in another way, which is more worldly and grounded.

Which means, plainly put, that times of crisis and struggle are coming, and when they come we will learn much more than we thought we would about each other—we will, for the first time, come to know each other much more intimately. We will see new sides, some uglier than others.

And this, right now, this strange, strange era that we are living in, is one of those times—perhaps not an apocalypse as John of Patmos describes it, but certainly a time of great, terrifying struggle and uncertainty.

And now, suddenly, under circumstances we mostly had no way of controlling, we are seeing our truths shatter. We are seeing our pretenses shatter. We are seeing our peers, too, shatter. We see who among us is more tolerant, and who is more selfish.

We see that people we had a lot of admiration for are not the saints we thought they were; they act irresponsibly, selfishly, totally out of character (whatever we previously thought that character was)—we see each other face to face, as the aforementioned 1 Corinthians puts it.

We also see that some people are going out of their way during these times to be kind, and caring, and truly good people, but unfortunately right now the clouds manage to cover up the sun.

And it is, truly, terrifying. I know that I, personally, just feel more and more confused and unprepared as time goes by, and I can only assume that other people in my position feel the same way.

Because these are times that I wish that I were more religious than I am, because maybe that would give me some degree of comfort and understanding. But I’m not religious, at least not in a classical sense, so all I have to dive into is art as its own form of comfort.

There’s no real point to this thread. No build-up to some youth pastor joke; no cutting-edge observation. Only this: to paraphrase 1 Corinthians 13:12, we are seeing each other face to face, and, to echo that Maya Angelou quote, “When people show you who they are, believe them.”

And, if you’re disappointed by the revelation of that true face, all you can do in response is to be better, and to be good, and, hopefully, to be well.

End of sermon.