By
Ada Brownell
I recently did research for a newspaper op-ed piece about the perilous condition
in which our nation finds itself. The piece appeared in The Pueblo Chieftain
December 2011, “The only way out may be up.”
In
the 1950s, my husband and I lived in a cabin on top of Tennessee Pass. Les was
agent-telegrapher at the Pando Reio Grande Railroad depot, across from Camp
Hale, near Leadville. Colo..
One
afternoon soldiers arrived on the train. A young man carrying his duffle bag
gazed around in awe.
“Mountains this way. Mountains that way.
Mountains over there. Mountains over here. The only way out of this place is
up!”
America
finds itself trapped in a similar place.
After discussing the national debt and other
problems, I wrote:
Our
society careens near the precipice on the dangerous curves of moral bankruptcy.
Similar to the narrow highway over Battle Mountain, a way out of Camp Hale,
we’re near the edge and in a storm it’s difficult to see. Battle Mountain has
few guard rails because highway crews need to shove the deep snow over the
side.
Guard rails that historically steered our
nation morally have been dismantled— The Ten Commandments nudged over the
cliff. Children are taught to worship the created rather than the loving
Creator. They grow up believing morality doesn’t matter. The Centers for
Disease Control reports we kill 234 babies for every 1,000 live births. In
2008, CDC reports 825,564 legal abortions. CDC’s 2010 report on Sexually
Transmitted Diseases identified STDs as one of the most critical health
challenges facing our nation, with 19 million new infections each year costing
the health care system $17 billion annually.
At the same time, Freedom of religion is being
strangled while secularism becomes the national cult. On Dec. 2, 2011, the
Family Research Council released this memo obtained from the Navy concerning
Walter Reed Hospital in Maryland: “Navy officials have announced that ‘no religious items (including Bibles, reading
material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.
FRC brought the memo to the attention of Congress and Rep. Steve King. After
speaking to Walter Reed, they were assured the Navy was rescinding the policy.
Many
of us love money, things and entertainment more than one another. A large
number of couples no longer honor their marriage vows and in their search to
find joy compromise everything important and thereby drop into the chasm.
We
stand in the storm, mountains to conquer, but no longer have strength or tools
to scale them. A large number of folks require alcohol to have a good time or
to soothe the conscience and kill the emotional pain. A good portion of our
society seeks something stronger, according to the tons of illegal and
prescription mind-altering drugs sold.
I
believe with the soldier of years ago who said, “The only way out of here is
up!”
I added repentance is our nation’s only hope and God is the
only one who can lift the heavy burdens of sin, unbelief and rebellion that
plague the individual, rob him of peace, strip him of joy, and plunge him into
a constant state of despair.
Ignoring the chasm beside the treacherous road we travel
will not give us peace. We do need to look up, and when we do, we need to
believe that “He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him”
(Hebrews 11: 6).
