It is foolish to take sides in disputes, or seek some other place or mode of living, or to envy the future or the past; all desire is delusion. Even life is an uncertain good; death not a certain evil; one should have no prejudices against either of them. Best of all is a calm acceptance; not to reform the world, but to bear with it patiently; not to fever ourselves with progress, but to content ourselves with peace. —from Will and Ariel Durant’s The Story of Civilization
The Imaginative Conservative applies the principle of appreciation to the discussion of culture and politics—we approach dialogue with magnanimity rather than with mere civility. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? Please consider donating now.
The featured image is “Moonrise over the Sea” (1822) by Caspar David Friedrich and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. It has been brightened for clarity.
A very appropriate sentiment on this most polarized of election days. I appreciate the posting of such a sentiment.
Unfortunately there is a class of folk who regard society as there play thing, something to be experimented on, awaiting the touch of genius that they know they have, whose bedrock is power, with more than a dash of incompetence and power hunger.
Jesus commanded His disciples to go into every nation and make disciples. Is that not a commandment to seek reformation of the world?
Jesus also said His kingdom was not of THIS world.
The assigned mission of Christians (as a Church) is NOT ‘To change the world’ but, in the fixed time allotted, ‘To proclaim the Gospel, baptize and disciple believers, and thereby plant congregations that will do the same’ until the fixed number of the elect (known with certainty only by God) has been rescued.
Therefore, Christians will strive to mitigate primarily those evils that hinder the free proclamation of the Gospel and thus the mission of the Church. Christianity is no Utopian Project for social engineers. THIS world will eventually be purged and restored by God … NOT by mankind, Christian or otherwise.