The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse

There’s talk again that, this year, the world really will end.  Much of the chatter seems to come from a misunderstanding of the Mayan calendar.  I can’t and won’t speak to that here.  But I would like to observe that we are indeed in deep trouble. 

There is a trio of beasts loose in the world.  They are voracious.  They will eat anything.  Everything.  They are so relentless, so insatiable, that they make a school of great white sharks appear as total amateurs.  These beasts are so cunning and so quick in their attack, that their victims can be half-eaten without even knowing that they are being devoured.

These beasts stalk the world with a confidence and terror that comes straight out of apocalyptic Scripture.  They are the nightmare of all nightmares.  And it is likely that they are nibbling hungrily at your toes right now – at this very moment.  Unless, of course, they have already consumed you – eaten you whole without your ever knowing it.  For the great true terror of these beasts is that after they have devoured every morsel of your flesh, your blood and your soul, you still walk around like a raging zombie – dead, but undead.  And curiously, while you are able to see the other zombies around you, it never occurs to you that you yourself have become a zombie as well. 

No, it’s not science fiction.  I wish it were.

These insatiable, raging beasts are the Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  And they are indeed wreaking unspeakable havoc.  These three horsemen are Anger, Fear and Hate. 

You can see them at work in Israel/Palestine.  You can see them at work in Syria, Iran, and North Korea.  You can also see them at work in Russia, France, Italy, Canada, Japan, Mexico, China, Great Britain, and indeed every corner of the globe.  They are giddily comfortable within the borders of the United States.  We no longer practice politics here.  We practice anger, fear and hate.  Anger, Fear and Hate of “them.”  “They” are at fault.  And “they” are evil.  Whoever “they” happen to be … this week.

The propaganda notwithstanding, Hate, Anger and Fear, know no race.  They know no religion, no gender, no age, and no political affiliation.  They are as comfortable on the Left as the are on the Right, and indeed in the Center as well.

The great secret of their success is our ability to see Hate, Anger and Fear everywhere – everywhere but within ourselves.

Even so, they are not mindless.  They are controlled.  The Three Horsemen of the Apocalypse are controlled.  And if you wish to know who controls them, ponder and then answer these three questions.  “Who benefits from my hate?  Who benefits from my anger?  Who benefits from my fear?” 

These are hard but important questions.  And I believe that the only way we will EVER have even a chance of banishing the Three Horsemen is to take a long, hard look in the mirror: to ponder these questions, to answer them and then to learn to say, “No!”

No!  I will not fear.  No!  I will not be angry.  No!  I will not hate. 

Yet I believe we must also say, “No, I will not hide.  I will not be controlled by anger, fear or hate, but I will speak.  And I will keep speaking, without anger, without hate, and without fear.  I will be heard.  But I will be heard without shouting.”

I believe this is truly the greatest challenge we face.  I pray we are up to it.