“Bad times, hard times, this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.” - St Augustine
St Augustine of Hippo lived from 354 to 430. His lifetime witnessed the rapid decline of the Roman Empire. His world was the Roman Empire, and, in his last years, he was seeing its destruction. In his dying days, there were barbarian invaders knocking at his city gates. He was facing the destruction of all he knew. Within this context, these words jump out with power and integrity. These words remain ever so powerful today in a world facing its own multiple and serious crises.
Under the force of these crises, our world is changing rapidly and definitively. From the beginning of the pandemic, I would name our times as extraordinary times. With the onset of yet another war in Ukraine and the worsening conflict next door in Myanmar, I began talking of crazy times. Now we see Taiwan and are hit with the worsening impact of climate change - double whammy! I think these may be named now apocalyptic times, for I am seeing so many signs reinforcing one shared message of our time - we are entering a new era. .
Let me be clear, this is just my take on the world, my interpretation. This is my theory. Let me be clear, it is definitely not shared with any sense of the end times in mind. We are not at the end of time. That is precisely what Augustine was telling his people then as they faced much danger and destruction: 'Now is not the end of time, nor even a bad time. It is just our time.' As always, we make our times and times are ever changing.
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