Certainty
From man's perspective in this extraordinary
It is so easy to become confused and think
you are the doer
But from God's infinite certainty He
always knows
who should ever be put on trial
~Hafiz
It's 1941, in Guernsey, a small island of about 27 square miles, located in the English Channel. The Channel islands are dominated by the Germans, as is the bailiwick (civil head and presiding officer) of Guernsey.
Prior to the occupation, many Guernsey children had been evacuated to England to live with relatives or strangers during the war. Sadly, some children were never reunited with their families.
Some Guernsey residents were sent by occupying forces to camps in southwest Germany, including the President of the States Controlling Committee, and head of the civilian population. Three citizens who were of Jewish descent were deported to France and from there to Auschwitz. In Alderney, four camps were built to house forced laborers. Loyalty to Britain was forbidden and at the insistence of occupying forces, laws were passed to reward informants willing to report islanders who expressed their loyalty, by painting a "V-for Victory" on walls or buildings.
Starvation threatened the Island in late 1944 after German forces were cut off and supplies could not be brought in from France. It was only the Red Cross who could provide essential supplies to the Island.
And it was under these circumstances that four friends were out walking one night, after meeting with their book club in one of their homes and were stopped by German soldiers for breaching curfew. When asked for their reason, they stated that they were returning from their book club, suddenly named, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, to avoid arrest.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is a historic novel written by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Published in 2008, it reached No. 1 on The New York Times Best Seller list for a paperback trade fiction, remaining in that position for 11 weeks. In 2018, the book was released in film, directed by Mike Newell and produced by Paula Mazur, Peter Czernin, Graham Broadbent and Mitchell Kaplan.
Set in 1946, the two-hour film, begins by introducing the audience to Juliet Ashton, a London based author, who has coincidentally begun exchanging letters with one, Dawsey Adams, from Guernsey.
He came into possession of a personal copy of Juliet's book, Essays of Elia, by Charles Lamb, and wanted to know where, in England he could find another book by the same author. He tells Juliet that he is part of a book club called, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
In response, Juliet offers to send Dawsey another copy of Essays of Elia, along with an additional book, Tales of Shakespear, in exchange for information about the society and how it came into being, to which Dawsey agrees.
Over a period of time Juliet learns, from Dawsey and other corresponding members of the Literary Society, about the terrifying conditions inflicted on the people during the German occupation. As a result, Juliet resolves to go and visit the island of Guernsey, and to get to know more about the stories of the people she has come to know, and be a part of their lives.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society film is a remarkable and heart-warming production, reminding us of some of the lesser known stories of horrific tragedies and the miracles of survival, during a war, where the chances of survival, particularly for the Slavs, Gypsies and Jews, were slim to none, simply for the reason they were not Aryan, and therefore, believed to be of little value.
Value. A concept historically understood as an objective quality of the spiritual and moral backdrop against which our lives are played out. But sadly, we have seen this recognized stake pin of value regarding moral and spiritual reference, become diluted and categorized into a hierarchy of relativistic and theoretical frameworks; of ethics, philosophy and economics, from which one can choose. And the result of replacing moral and spiritual references, has gradually cleared the table of objective qualities and replaced the settings with a buffet of relativism we now call "values clarification".
And where the guests of values; goodness, beauty, the mystery of life, the noble light of truth, and the dignity of being itself, previously graced the table, we now see those values deposed in favor of relativistic and theoretical frameworks of ethics, philosophy and economics, diluting moral and spiritual references.
But before we nonchalantly dismiss moral shifts in our culture, with a cavalier statement of, "Times are a Changin'", we might want to be reminded of history, where the promotion of such ideals, seduced entire populations and paved the way for radical governmental change – one favoring and enforcing, racial supremacy, imprisoning or exterminating those considered of little value, and deciding which lives were considered worth keeping … a change many wished they could "do over", in favor of honoring life, truth and goodness. And instead of buying into lucrative theories and frameworks replacing moral and spiritual references, many might also wish to have the chance of another "do over" and to say… "I'm sorry. I can't spare the change."
Culturally, our country is experiencing quite a bit of socio-political conflict, between parties; those who support a government upholding constitutional statements of the separation of powers and the branches of government, and those who support a formulation known as democratic socialism.
Considered a mainstream Democratic Party liberalism, or social democracy, and traditionally defined as Socialists, it promises single-payer health care, tuition-free college, government jobs to deal with unemployment problems, and no tax breaks.
Born out of the Bolshevik Revolution, led by Lenin, who executed the former Tsar and his family including five children, ages 13-22, the Socialist party today is identified as diverse. Its main focus and vision includes Social Security reform, care for the five major experiences of severe and multiple disadvantaged, and building a thriving economy through the efforts of populous contribution for the good of the whole with the consent of all.
Recognized as a pyramid scheme, socialism ultimately proves unsustainable because of its faulty principles. Based on collectivism, its theory is flawed due to its inconsistency with the fundamental principles of human behavior; that of the inherent quality of individual incentives. Socialism's espousal of equality only translates to mean that everyone is equal in the tyranny of poverty and misery.
If we could learn from one of our own, it might bring us greater understanding.
His name was Malcolm Muggeridge. A journalist for a British newspaper and editor of Punch, he was a personality who could startle and regale any audience with his wit, while also insisting that what the modern world was building, was; not a City of God, not a classless Eden of optimist liberalism, but rather, Babel.
He was born into a socialist family, whose parents were devoted followers. After high school, he attended Cambridge University, but washed out. He traveled to India to be a teacher where he also learned a great deal about political environments, and found himself somewhat bemused by man's lust for power and glory. His reactions to strutting politicians and tycoons was one of incredulity. It was also a theme that could be traced in his writings for decades, as well as a consuming interest that eventually brought him to his own realization, of distrust of his own vanities, along with a growing belief that the teachings of Christ might possibly be on the mark, and a beginning of his whole life moving toward that point.
As a journalist, Malcolm was a foreign correspondent in Russia during the Stalinist reign of the 1930s. He and his wife had gone to the Soviet Union as pilgrims with stars of Utopia in their eyes. It seemed like the City of God come to earth as The City of Man. The classless society. The dictatorship of the Proletariat. The only difficulty in the enterprise was that it looked suspiciously like… hell.
On the one hand, zealots from England and America made their pilgrimages to Russia, and were shown the props and pasteboard sets of the Stalinist stage. But they chose not to hear the shrieks from backstage, nor to see the Cheka hurrying half the population off to torture and the salt mines, nor to log the statistics of starvation following Stalin's gigantic collective agricultural plans. And once again, Muggeridge was bemused, more by the ingratiating gullibility and humbug of the Western observers, than the atrocities of the Soviet system. And the stars in his eyes for a Utopia were extinguished forever. For what he saw in Utopia was the horror, and over- inflated, carnivorous tyranny.
And the growing belief that the teachings of Christ might possibly be on the mark, began to move Malcolm more closely to that point, to even an obsession, to the topics of: Goodness. Truth. Sanity. Purity of heart. Sanctity. God. And like the poet or sage that stands outside the city to warn travelers, of pitfalls and destruction, Malcolm's teachings called us to another way, to hope and to truth. And maybe that is the result we experience … when we put God on trial.
Exodus 6:1 "Then the Lord said to Moses, Now see what I shall do…"
~Paulette Jackson
References: The Night is Far Spent by Thomas Howard. Why Socialism Fails. Fabian Society: The Future of the Left. Wikipedia: October Revolution. Wikipedia: Constitution of US. Vox: Six Questions about Socialism You Were Afraid to Ask.
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