“Sursum versus sacrorum fluminum feruntur fontes / The springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards.”
Look outside your window at the topsy-turvy world, and I swear you’ll see waterfalls flowing upwards.
You wouldn’t be the first to see them. Men of the West, from Greece to Rome to Christendom, have seen the same sight throughout the ages. Indeed, when the world is turned on its head and everything seems upside down, that’s when you’ll see “the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards.”
Look now!
When authority abides no questions yet feigns to have all the answers, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that trust in God is no longer fixed in the hearts of men, only a trust in themselves and their own fallen government.
When government inflates its prerogatives, claiming to solve all earthly problems, yet preying on the people it claims to serve, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that where you should have found a trustworthy father and loving mother you instead found a predator trying to resemble them both while crouching at your door.
Watch out!
When old men begin to act like boys and yet are mocked by boys who have put off their manhood indefinitely, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that hope for the future was betrayed when that inheritance of manly responsibility was delayed for reasons the old men have now long forgotten.
When young women are required by necessity or choice to perform manly deeds to have and hold a home, yet fathers take no pride nor interest in their seed and venture into the wild alone, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and a partial glimpse of why women would deny motherhood to themselves and childhood to their children while calling it an act of liberation.
When compassion means stripping boys and girls of their innocence while inciting sons and daughters to rebel against their mothers and fathers, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that the compulsory confusion of young minds through twisted words is never a mistake made innocently.
Listen up!
When words become weapons to manipulate and truth is shackled as a slave to power, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that, for better or worse, men will ignorantly rebel against even the truth itself, until they have finally won their freedom again.
When freedom comes to merely mean the profane pursuit of political power and wealth, while money is debased into a hollow symbol of status and a token of control, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that neither liberty nor honest enterprise are secured for honest and free men.
When liberty comes to mean celebrating every vice, blushing and blustering with indignant disgrace in the face of any virtue, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that justice and tradition have been overturned by shameless desire and the worship of passing whims.
When shamelessness seems a primrose path to dignity, yet the road to depravity inspires no protest nor guilt, you will see the springs of the sacred rivers flow backwards … and that the practical plans of men are just as treacherous as their appetites are insatiable and perverse.
Look outside your window at the topsy-turvy wide world, and I swear you’ll see waterfalls flowing upwards. The question in such an upside-down world is: Will you go with the backwards flow or set out to restore the world to its proper place?
Though the world loves to be undone, some men have the faith to face it and the courage to set things right.
Joey Clark is a native Alabamian and is currently the host of the radio program News and Views on News Talk 93.1 FM WACV out of Montgomery, AL M-F 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. His column appears every Tuesday in 1819 News. To contact Joey for media or speaking appearances as well as any feedback, please email newsandviews931@gmail.com.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to Commentary@1819news.com.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe to our newsletter and get our top stories every weekday morning.
