DISSIDENT LIVING [W, 10-14-20]

CHRIST IN WINTER: Reflections on Faith & Life for the Years of Winter

DISSIDENT LIVING     [W, 10-14-20]

It seems wrong right now to write about, or even think about, anything but the upcoming election… if democracy can survive… the increasing rate and magnitude of nature disasters… the accelerating of hatred and division… the debasement of religion for the sake of power… the virus…

Recently, though, our daughter, Katie Kennedy, the professor and author, [1] said that she is helped to get through these times because she is a Russian history scholar. She has read much in the journals and diaries of Soviet dissidents, people who lived under extreme tyranny and brutality. She noted that even though their lives were under constant anxiety and in constant danger, as they resisted the oppressive regime, they took time to record outings with their grandchildren, the beauty of nature, the fellowship of friends. They did not let the dominators dominate them. Even as they resisted the tyrants of the world of hate, they lived as citizens of the world of hope.

So, I think I’ll take on the role of a dissident… well, I already have. But I think I’ve let the dominators dominate me. I spend too much time in anger and despair at the ways of the haters. Yes, I resist, in all the ways I can, but even my best and strongest resistance amounts to very little, if anything, so I’m left with only the anger and frustration. Now I need to spend more time in the world of hope, of friends and nature and family. So, thank you, friend, for reading this, on this beautiful autumn day here in Indiana, and let me tell you about my grandchildren…

John Robert McFarland

1] Her most recent book, for middle-graders, and Congress members who are smart enough to read, is The Constitution Decoded: A Guide to the Document That Shapes Our Nation, published by Workman.