There weren’t ten righteous people in Sodom and Gomorrah, but there probably are in most Churches, and most Christian schools. It might take more than just ten righteous people to save an entire country like the U.S., but if there are already ten in most Churches and Christian schools, that’s more than enough for the regeneration of our country.

At slump times, even experienced believers have a hard time finding the words, and so the prayers of the Bible and the Church are valuable ways for them to persevere.

Once upon a time the Church put itself out there, gave people a choice, and because the culture of the Church was so vigorous and attractive, people made the Christian choice.

The people generally went along without a peep. With a shrug and a laconic “Whatever” they lapsed into being “nones” – people with no specific religious identity. Is this us?

Wastelands and badlands are stretching out now – asphalt tundras glittering with places to spend money you don’t have to buy things you don’t need for purposes that won’t make you happy. These are the new desolate places where we go to pray for peace, do penance, and engage with demoniacs.

History is not very sentimental – if you make enough mistakes of enough gravity, your culture simply will not survive. We have ample reason to believe, however, that whatever is on the coast we are approaching, driven by the storms of the moment, they will be fertile places for the proclamation of Christ and Him crucified.

So, what happened to Solomon? We may never know. So, why did God allow all that to happen? It has been suggested that sometimes a period of deconstruction is necessary, a diminishment of religion and its influence, so that a new generation can arise that looks at religion with fresh eyes.

We can’t agree on what yardstick to use, or even if there is one. We can’t argue anymore; we can only fight. Our enemies can’t just be wrong; they have to be lying. We can’t persuade them; we have to destroy them.