Thursday, October 16, 2014

The Best of Times, the Worst of Times


"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way....” So begins A Tale of Two Cities in “the year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and seventy-five.” A tale of nations and souls when it was "the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

It was the time of unraveling. Long afterward, in the ruins, people asked: How could it happen?… It was a time of disorientation. Nobody connected the dots or read Kipling on life’s few certainties: 'The Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire and the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire.' Until it was too late and people could see the Great Unraveling for what it was and what it had wrought.” (Roger Cohen,The Great Unraveling, The New York Times, Sept. 15, 2014).

"And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh...."
For some "the best of times." For some "the worst of times.
Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning (Mark 13:35) ."


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