The City of God

Dear Aspiring Immortal,

Last weekend I flew southward, away from my frigid home town. On Saturday I found myself sitting in a landscaper’s re-creation of Portofino, Italy in summery Florida. Real palm trees helped form a convincing make-believe Italy with concrete molded statues and buildings decorated by tromp d’oeil paintings. My happy foursome enjoyed an eight hour reunion at a pool side scene, a make-believe dock scene, and the Bar American scene. Actually, since we were last together my friend Zoe remarried, so one of us was new. Zoë’s deceased husband Skip Walker was a great artist and a good friend of mine from art college. Skip contracted cancer and left his body many years ago, maybe ten. I don’t know how long and it doesn’t matter, especially to him. Her now husband is an economics professor who taught us much that afternoon.

My new friend Jim explained to me why I should be more concerned about the economy than even the badnews casters’ reports lead me to be. We shouldn’t be spending so much deficit money. Money is being fabricated from thin air; our Federal Reserve is storing cotton. The more of this play-money we send into the world the thinner the bulwarks become that protect us. If you think evil is nothing more than a nightmare some people conjure up to scare others, or if you think it is just an attitude that can be overcome with proper debate then it is easy to become vulnerable to it.

The day after that sobering talk I went to the airport. The airline counter attendant could not upgrade us because the flight was full. In jest, I told her that people were probably flocking to DC to tell Congress to stop the foolishness. That was enough to open the floodgates. She said that she had loved this country but wasn’t proud of it anymore. In her mind we were rapidly losing the spirit of free enterprise that made us a great nation.

I wanted to tell my new friend and the attendant to live well and be patient for the land of immortality, the City of God. The City of God is real. No one will be admitted who doesn’t believe it exists and who doesn’t recognize its Leader.

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,

The holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;

God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.

The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;

He uttered His voice, the earth melted. Psalm 46

So many empires have collapsed and so many civilizations have evolved since Adam and Eve decided to not trust God. Watch what is happening even if this generation sees the collapse of the beautiful representative democratic idea, because of power grabbing humanity. It really doesn’t matter how the civilizations fell. What matters is resting in God and reflecting His image. What matters is that the City of God is perfect because the source of power there is pure good, pure God with His truth, love, and beauty. Aspiring immortals live there in our hearts and do all that we can to create a make believe City of God here, like Portofino in Florida.

Jeremiah 17:7-9

7 “ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,
And whose hope is the LORD.
8 For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters,
Which spreads out its roots by the river,
And will not fear[a] when heat comes;
But its leaf will be green,
And will not be anxious in the year of drought,
Nor will cease from yielding fruit.

Dear aspiring immortal friend, never fear. Our Lord is with us.

Peace.

Evangeline