I’m With C.S. Lewis on Today’s Challenges

A Tuesday morning dose of encouragement I gathered from rereading one of my old favorites.

I’m doing a bit of reading this summer, primarily going back over old favorites while mixing in the important wisdom of the ages. I recently reread C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity, which originally aired in parts over the radio in England during World War II before being turned into a short book. His chapter on “hope” struck me as vitally important to the cause of worldwide freedom, primarily because I share the faith of Lewis, and because of my own determination to use this life I’ve been given to make the world a better place.

Some Christians take the “citizens of Heaven” mantra too far and use it to justify doing little of Earthly value or political consequence. The opposite can be true as well, whereas some who claim to be Christians are only happy if their side wins elections. That is also not good. In the “hope” chapter, Lewis writes:

Hope is one of the Theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not (as some modern people think) a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. The Apostles themselves, who set on foot the conversion of the Roman Empire, the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English Evangelicals who abolished the Slave Trade, all left their mark on Earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with Heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth ‘thrown in’: aim at earth and you will get neither.

Why am I writing this today in this newsletter, rather than in my personal one? Because the readers of this newsletter include some of the most prolific political and cultural warriors on Earth who are fighting some of the toughest battles, often with slow results or often negative outcomes. I frequently hear distress signals and concerns that we are on the brink of losing the Republic, and that all may be lost.

The sad part? They’re right. The good part? They’re right.

There is arguably no more impactful time to be alive than right now, with a world seemingly hanging on by threads. You were the one given the mission to take light into this dark place. I must remind you that if there is to be victory, your courage is needed, and perhaps most important to understand, you’re not the one responsible for delivering the decisive blows.

I’ll never forget Tim Burke, the man who wrote me the email when I was stationed in Afghanistan that became the foundation for my post, God is the General:

We have all been “chosen” for a “sub-mission” by God. It may seem that our mission is impossible to complete. Moses probably felt that way standing in the worst tactical position possible with Pharoah’s army on one side and the Red Sea on the other. Tactically, he was toast! But God... need I write any more? You are where you are right now because you have been chosen to fulfill a sub-mission, a portion of God’s overall mission to redeem the world from sin and death. You need only submit to His will and God will show up and perform a miracle.

I feel motivated today because I know that I must continue my mission of exposing the truth about the electoral process I started years ago and be willing to take any follow-on missions that come. Others reading this are knee-deep in the fight for medical freedom or working to receive justice in corrupt courts. All are essential missions, and all those missions are to be lost without those willing to show up and do the work.

He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Luke 10:2 (NIV)

If you do that work you’ve been assigned to the best of your ability, don’t care who gets the credit, and trust God (the General) with the results, then I am confident the generations to come will enjoy freedoms and liberties in great abundance. That is the cycle of those willing to make the sacrifice today while the rest of the world wallows in self-satisfaction and ego.

The act of questioning if overcoming evil is possible can be a strength if you let it be. If it were possible to be overcome by man’s effort alone, we would not need God. If this resonates with you, find a way to get yourself plugged in to something that matters. It changed my life and created a lot of uncertainty, but when I read Lewis’s words, I know I’ve made the right choice.

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Seth Keshel, MBA, is a former Army Captain of Military Intelligence and Afghanistan veteran. His analytical method of election forecasting and analytics is known worldwide, and he has been commended by President Donald J. Trump for his work in the field.