Olive Sprouts

"At the time Augustine wrote City of God, it must have seemed as though civilization itself was collapsing. In A.D. 410, Rome was sacked by Alaric and his forces. The Empire was in decline. In our day, as homosexual ‘marriage’ is gaining acceptance and abortion is completely commonplace, sometimes we feel helpless and distinctly outnumbered. Augustine tells us that our homes should be small parts of the City of God, and that we ought to interact with others in our households as we should, remembering our citizenship and obeying the laws of the City of God. Augustine doesn’t lay difficult burdens on our shoulders. He doesn’t tell us we must be political leaders or influential and prominent celebrities. He tells us we must treat others in our homes the way we ought. He tells us we must remember that we are part of the Heavenly City, the City of God, which was founded by our Lord Christ Jesus. And the simplicity of that task of living our lives rightly is complex enough to keep us all busy to our deaths, and simple enough that we can know what we must do."

~a paragraph from one of my recent essays.