by Gary Humble
My wife and I have had this book in our living room on a shelf for much of our married life. It has become window dressing, something to look at, but never read. Does anyone else have items like that?
Over Thanksgiving, the book caught my eye and then my curiosity. It is called The Ear of God by Patrick J Peyton. It is an old hardcover book that has experienced a bit of wear and some cosmetic damage.
Of interest, the book was printed in 1951. I asked my wife where this book had come from thinking we just picked it up at some flea market at some point for decorating purposes. To my surprise, the book had come from her great-grandmother which certainly gave a bit more meaning to this nondescript book sitting on the shelf. Thumbing through the pages, there are underlined sections in pencil.
This little book caught my interest right from the preface. It reads,
“Clearly, mankind is evading the purpose for which man was made, and has departed from the guide given from heaven for the attainment of earthly happiness and eternal life. The trouble is that the world has torn up the rules. And the world simply is not getting away with it.
Current books, magazines, and newspapers reflect a growing public consciousness that we are suffering from an epidemic abandonment of truth, honor, and duty; from a spreading practice of sacrificing principle to expediency; from extensive problems of juvenile and parental delinquency, drunkenness, narcotic addiction, sexual perversion, crime, and insanity. And we recognize these things as symptoms. Symptoms of what?”
Now consider something. This is an excerpt from a book printed in 1951. But it reads like right now, doesn’t it? Before we go any further, I want to camp here for the moment. Really contemplate on what you have just read.
Are we really fighting the right fights? Moreover, are we really just fighting the same fight, over and over and over again? To me, it seems as though the same root problems still exist. They may look and feel different. Styles change and so does technology. But at the root, we are facing the same challenges. And political solutions do not seem to bring any real change to the problems we are facing. They just take on new forms.
The book, interestingly, is about prayer. The author, Patrick J Peyton, was a Catholic priest. But not just any priest. He died in 1992 at the age of 83 and since 2001 has been on his way to becoming a saint. He was declared venerable in 2017 by Pope Francis and the process to sainthood is still ongoing.
Now, I am not Catholic. So, the Pope and sainthood are really not all that important to me, personally. But I find it timely that I would stumble across such a book in my home hiding in plain sight. I have been asking God for the answers to these very questions. How do we fight the evil that is upon us? What are the real fights that might make a tangible difference?
Father Peyton believed that the answer to the problems of his day was prayer, specifically prayer by the family. The phrase, “the family that prays together, stays together” was literally made famous by his ministry and his mission to encourage families across the world to pray together. He believed that prayer changes everything and that it would change the world.
The story continues to get a bit interesting because this was a man who not only believed in prayer as a solution but a solution to political problems, namely Communism. He saw Communism as a godless evil of his day and indeed this evil is still upon us now, even infecting the minds of our young people right here in America. College graduates right now are going out into the world believing that in many ways, Marx had it right. And they are challenging the current political structures in favor of centralized government and global shifts to a one-world currency with an accompanying technocracy to make it all work.
Our young people are believing the lie that giving up sovereignty is necessary and right in order to bring peace and prosperity for all. How is this possible? How can the minds of so many believe in a system of government that has failed for so long?
I would submit to you that perhaps not only are we not fighting the right fights, but maybe we are using the wrong tools.
In the book, Peyton quotes a study from Carl Jung, the father of analytical psychology who stated,
“Among all my patients in the second half of life – that is to say, over thirty-five – there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. It is safe to say that every one of them fell ill because he has lost that which the living religions of every age have given to their followers, and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.”
From Jung’s studies, Father Peyton noted that even the father of analytical psychology itself found that “godlessness is a common cause of [societal] neurosis.” And I must say that I have come to the very same conclusion.
Godlessness can take on many forms of course. But it seems like the political end is certainly Communism. And indeed, it is the godless who seek to control populations across the world through that very political mechanism. It was true in the 1800s during the rise of Karl Marx. It was true at the formation of the Soviet Union in 1922. It was true in 1951 as a priest saw the corruption of American ideals during his day. And it is still true today.
I would urge you to consider the incredible challenges that we are facing today. Truth is now abstract. Young men desire to be women. It is a popular ideal for parents to fight for the right to kill their children in the womb. Marriage is frowned upon. Men striptease in front of children in public parks. Young people line the streets in protest for the liberation of Palestinian terrorists. Arresting criminals is racist. And much of the population will subject themselves to the next government-mandated serum that is sure to provide for their coveted health and safety.
The world at large is experiencing a mass psychosis at a scale never before seen in human history. And even with all of that looming over humanity, some are only concerned with the national debt. And yes, we have significant political problems to face here in America. But I contend that those political problems pale in comparison to the spiritual oppression, the spirit of the age, that has gripped our nation, and our young people, decimated our families, and turned pulpits into LGBT propaganda machines.
America is in trouble, and we are not going to politic our way out of this one.
Listen, it is not lost on me that I run a political advocacy nonprofit. And I still believe that our work is incredibly important. And I still echo the call of our Founders that we must be fully engaged in the public square as citizens. We must continue to fight against every encroachment on liberty and ensure that we pass on a free Tennessee to our children and to theirs. We have a duty to our children, and we are obliged to fulfill it.
But make no mistake. We are in a spiritual battle. And perhaps, we are in the battle of the ages. If you have no faith, I pray you find it. For those of you of the faith, pray. Pray with your families, and often. Pray fervently.
I believe now, perhaps more than I did in years past, that prayer will not only sustain us through the current trials, but it will yield our victory in the end.
