Common Ground? We were made for Uncommon Heights!!

I'm thinking of writing another article for CatholicOnline. Today was a day filled with many blessings, all linked to the Assumption and the graces that flow through our Mother to us. Many good thought "from above" today. The piece for C.O. has to be about the health care proposals, and the inclusion of abortion in any legislation that passes. I can't see any health bill NOT guaranteeing the funding of abortion... and euthanasia for that matter. In the City of Man, these are integral components in the economic structuring of humankind--for we are all headed for "thing-hood" when our worth is determined by cost. It all goes back to Leviathan... the book, that is. By Hobbes. The philosophy of the post-Reformation European elites who were determined to separate from the monarchy, but realized they needed a "gameplan" first. That strategy included the same ideology that has brought us to this "common ground" mantra we hear being sung by City of Man's rulers. Common ground... that agreed upon giving up of certain personal rights "for the good" of the larger, more important community... and that community's survival. If people would only read!!! They would see it all around us--you give up your sick grandfather's need for expensive health care so the middle-aged middle-class can have their proper share. Granted, that share is not equal--but their share is based on what they can give back to Leviathan. Same for the unborn. If conceived out of marriage, and likely to come into an existence where nurturing is likely NOT to occur, then chances are the poor little one will be of small worth down the road. In fact, he or she will most likely become a drain on the community's resources. Better to abort. It's for the "common good." Strange how seeking the common good, in the parlence of the wealthy, leading elite, is derived from a search for "common ground." It's the other mantra. We seek the common ground through dialogue (which is pretty much one sided) as we listen to our leaders tell us how to agree upon what is the common good. The common ground is the consensus... what we are willing to sacrifice (where have we heard that word quite a bit lately?) "Can we afford grandpa's hip replacement?" the question is posed. Then the argument is laid out that "no, we are going broke, and hip replacements are luxuries at this time, so grandpa will have to limp his way to the next life. Which brings up the question: What is the next life? Is it something we're overlooking in this whole health care debate? We're so focused on the "common ground" that we are blind to the "common heights" to which we are all called. In the ultimate height to which we are called, we are of infinite worth, for there we are not called to make, or produce, or contribute... No, there, in heaven, we are all just called to be. And by "being" we become who we are... no less and no more. We find our place, our rank--and a peace upon which no one could ever put a price.

The elite have already found their place in this world. And they are bound to it with such clutching might that they won't let themselves go... won't let anyone go... to those unquantifiable heights. Theirs is the City of Man. A tall, formidable fortress, no doubt.

But to those of us who aspire to higher things... immaterial things... this fortress is more like a prison. As they strive to wall us all in, it is our yearning to break out and fly free. Those of us who have lived long enough in the confines of this old prison know that there is more. Our Faith speaks of it. It tells of a place... a city... the City of God... which will be built upon the ruins of the City of Man.

Soon, the common ground may very well begin to tremble. And the earth will begin to shake violently. City of Man will not withstand it. When the walls crumble... well then, perhaps will we have found that common ground... the common footing... upon which we can begin construction of the New Jerusalem.

Funny how we think we're building this huge, impregnable rampart, when we're really just waiting for it to fall, then to show us our human limitedness, and then to become the foundation for the real city that will last.

From the vantage point of our common height as Christians, we sit on a hill... hmmm, what hill is this? Oh yes, it's Calvary. From here the whole final episode would be quite entertaining, if it won't be all so tragic first.