Everything is going well, until it isn’t.
Then it is the end of the world, until it isn’t.
Unbridled confidence and unfounded panic are the poles we traverse,
A jagged, looping path along which we cry beseechingly and grasp breathlessly.

Lovers reach for each other, unthinking
Parents clasp their children tight, unhesitating
The touching worth more than the thinking
Love worth more than the mere living.

The brave whimper and the strong flee.
Certainty blows away in a whisper of fear
And centuries of confidence fade in a dark reckoning.
Something wondrous in this breaking of rhythms,
Even miraculous this sense of fragility and gratitude.

Gone are comfort and control,
Gone the hope and faith of millions,
Gone that thin-skin of pretense called civilization.
All that is left are lovers, touching unthinking
And parents cradling the future, defiant and determined.

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.

We hope you will join us in The Imaginative Conservative community. The Imaginative Conservative is an online journal for those who seek the True, the Good, and the Beautiful. We address culture, liberal learning, politics, political economy, literature, the arts and the American Republic in the tradition of Russell Kirk, T.S. Eliot, Edmund Burke, Irving Babbitt, Wilhelm Roepke, Robert Nisbet, Richard Weaver, M.E. Bradford, Eric Voegelin, Christopher Dawson, Paul Elmer More, and other leaders of Imaginative Conservatism. Some conservatives may look at the state of Western culture and the American Republic and see a huge dark cloud which seems ready to unleash a storm that may well wash away what we most treasure of our inherited ways. Others focus on the silver lining which may be found in the next generation of traditional conservatives who have been inspired by Dr. Kirk and his like. We hope that The Imaginative Conservative answers T.S. Eliot’s call to “redeem the time, redeem the dream.” The Imaginative Conservative offers to our families, our communities, and the Republic, a conservatism of hope, grace, charity, gratitude, and prayer.

The featured image is “The Plague of the Philistines at Ashdod” and is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Comments that are critical of an essay may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. Keep in mind that essays represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Imaginative Conservative or its editor or publisher.

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