Is This a New Era?

 It is January 20th as I write this - it is 26 degrees outside and we have MORE snow on the ground, and there are flurries blowing around out there now. I am off school today as it is Martin Luther King Day, and it is also the day Mr. Trump is being inaugurated as the 47th President of our nation - that births optimism in me, as the past four years under the senile old fool named Joe Biden were a nightmare.  Trump being back in office means so many things - it means a possible end to the runaway inflation, a drilling policy to tap into our own petroleum supply, and most importantly, an end to all the "woke" BS that most of the country is frankly sick of.  I feel very good about all this, and hopefully my good feeling has justification. 

This past week has been a crazy one - a corrupt postal carrier failed to deliver some of my packages, and I am in the process of getting him taken care of now.  Also, dealing with 11th graders can have its own challenges - you would think at their age they would not act like babies, but on Friday I had one that I wish I could have booted into Baltimore Harbor.  The kid - we will call him Zack to protect his identity - was just being plain obnoxious, and I had to report him to his parents as well as writing him up.  As a teacher, I am not overly enthusiastic about calling anyone's parents on them, but in some cases it is a necessity. Zack was one of those - he was loud, disruptive, and in all honesty I wish I had the power to expel his rebellious butt. He is one of a group of around 8 "problem children" I have in my first class of a day, and to be honest, this group is making me reconsider career options.  Thankfully though, for every jackass in a class there are also several kids who make teaching rewarding too, and I am happy for them.  Bottom line, teachers do have to earn their salaries, and often that can be an uphill battle. 

Along those same lines, let's talk about something else.  Baltimore, like every major city in the country, has a pollution problem, especially in largely Black neighborhoods.  When I walk down Greenmount Avenue to 25th Street to catch my bus to work of a morning, I noticed in particular a certain site that disturbs me.  Baltimore's signature "rowhouses" are found all over the city, and I actually live in one myself now.  Depending on the neighborhood, the typical rowhouse can either be a run-down and abandoned shell, or it can be a very beautiful residence.  The construction of many of these rowhouses incorporates a basement, and in many houses, the access to the basement is either via a stairway inside the house or an external entrance next to the front door.  One of the more deteriorated rowhouses over here on Greenmount has one of the external basement entrances, and to access it one descends a flight of about a dozen steps to the door.  At this particular house though, a bunch of irresponsible people have turned the stairway leading to the basement into a makeshift dumpster, and it is almost filled to the top with garbage.  No doubt there are rats around that area too, as the nasty garbage would naturally attract them.   Seeing that, as well as the streets littered with garbage in some neighborhoods as well as unsightly graffiti on many surfaces, I started to think about something that really could be a good campaign platform for a conservative political candidate.  Let me elaborate.

The Black community in Baltimore has for years voted overwhelmingly Democrat, and as a result, the city government here is dominated by Democrats.  Part of the Democrats' unpopular and unsuccessful agenda for decades has been the environment, including the hoaxes of global warming, climate change, etc.  You would think with such a "Green" platform and a huge Black voting base, these Democrats would be eager to clean up the garbage on the streets here.  Yet, it is precisely in Democrat-run cities that pollution is out of control (just like crime) and for all the talk of "climate change" from these career politicians, I have yet to see them clean anything up.  It also proves what a hoax the whole "green agenda" is - if they were really that concerned about it, they would be initiating cleanup programs all over the country.  However, we all know what it really is about for these Democrats - they want power, will say anything to get power, and once they get it, they don't give a damn. Even many Blacks in those certain neighborhoods know this too - so why do they keep voting these fools in?  Get promised a handout, and you will do whatever you are told when it comes to the ballot box.  Some Republicans are equally culpable on this too.  If they are really so interested in the environment, perhaps they should shut their mouths and get their lazy asses out and clean up the neighborhoods they claim to represent.  I just wanted to make that casual observation before I continue. 

Shifting gears a bit, I wanted to talk about something else that came up recently.  You know, as I get older I start noticing when people are dying off, and that has become glaringly obvious recently.  In the past month, we lost a former President (Jimmy Carter), two prominent Evangelical Protestant figures (prophecy writer Hal Lindsey and Gospel singer Nancy Harmon), some major celebrities (actresses Joan Plowright and Linda Lavin), and on a personal level a former associate pastor of a church I used to attend as well as one of my former professors have just passed away.  This also made me think about an inner commentary I wanted to touch on briefly here too. 

In the past 30 years, I have noticed some things about how different Christian denominations approach societal issues.  It used to be that it was Evangelicals who led the charge as cultural warriors - I still recall the days of stalwarts like Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy making a stand for religious freedom and moral reform in society.  But, as that generation of Evangelicals died off, so did the zeal and motivation that once drove them.  Nowadays, there are an increasing number of young Evangelicals who are on the political Left, and I am sure many generations of their pastors and leaders are spinning in the grave over it.  But, fortunately to fill that gap, there are more Catholics making a stand for the truth now.  I once heard someone on EWTN (maybe it was Raymond Arroyo?) remark that there are two types of Catholics today in society.  There are the Catholics who love the Church and stand for Tradition, and then there are the hierarchs and elitists in diocesan leadership who are more liberal in their views (including Pope Francis, which is frankly disturbing).  It is apparent that except for a few shining examples - Cardinal Burke, Archbishop Vigano, Bishop Strickland - the leadership of the Catholic Church is out of touch with what its people need and want.  I am seeing younger people crave Tradition, and it is such a wonderful sight to see well-dressed young men at Mass as well as young ladies wearing mantillas.  It is saying that something is happening, and it is the Holy Spirit I believe stirring those young people.  Their greatest opponents though are liberal Boomers who insist on "changing the Church with the times," and they are even popping up at Catholic schools saying "education and not indoctrination" when it comes to orthodox Church teaching, yet they then will spout their DEI and other "woke" agendas - that sounds more like indoctrination to me.  I see it among some faculty at the Jesuit high school where I teach, and to be honest I was a bit unsettled when I heard this stuff.  The good thing though is that there is a positive turn toward orthodoxy and Tradition in the Church, and in time I think that Francis and his agenda will be sidelined in history just like Arius was in the 4th century.  We see it in the general population too - there is a reason why Trump is back in the White House now, and our nation has spoken as to what it wants, and Trump is the guy many people think will deliver.  This turn back to something decent is encouraging, but for now the war still rages although our enemies are losing a lot of ground.  It marks the beginning of a new era, both for the Church and for America.  And, may it continue to move forward as we reclaim so much that was lost. 

That pretty much concludes my immediate thoughts for the week, although I am certain I shall have more to say later.  Have a good week, and will see you next time.