If you were to ask me why I do what I do—podcasting, writing, being a maniac on social media—it would be cliché to say that I feel a "calling." Saying you feel called to do something, especially something as ridiculous as posting memes on social media, is often seen as elevating yourself to the level of some of the greatest men in history. Although I don’t consider myself a "great man," I find I can’t stop the work I’ve started. I’ve given serious thought and prayer to this “calling,” and I humbly admit that I feel like this is what I was created to do.

As often happens to most of us, I felt that today’s church sermon was preached explicitly to me. I’m not delusional; I know it was for all to hear, but it was a message I needed to hear at this moment to reinforce the belief that what I do is what I am meant to do. Ezekiel Chapter 2 describes God calling the prophet Ezekiel to go and speak to the Israelites. God calls the Israelites a rebellious nation that has transgressed against His laws. God refers to Israel as an "impudent" and "stubborn" people. God goes on to say that Ezekiel must preach the message He has delivered to Ezekiel, whether they hear it or refuse to accept it.

Removing myself from the above lesson, I know that almost everyone reading this has experienced the phenomenon of eloquently explaining something of political or cultural importance to someone who just won’t receive the message or accept what is right in front of them. It happens to all of us. Do we get frustrated in our efforts? Of course we do. How many of us have thought that because we were explaining an important matter to a family member, they would listen to us because they loved us? But we should remember that Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke that "no prophet is welcome in his hometown."

The fact is that we can be as articulate as is humanly possible, and most people are not going to accept what we have to say. And if they do agree with you on a Monday, by Tuesday they will have fallen back to their original way of thinking, more often than not. Should the fact that we are not going to break through the walls of people’s minds demoralize us? I can in no way allow that to happen. As I have continuously typed here at Substack, we must take care of ourselves first. The more success we have in our personal lives, the more satisfied we feel, even as we are aware that federal, state, and even local governments appear to be doing everything within their power to implode our economy and culture.

If I’m being honest, and I know you expect that from me, any nostalgic idea you have of resurrecting what America once was is lost. We must fight THROUGH the tragedy America has become. We must go beyond the horror and build what comes next. I believe there can be a more decentralized form of governance, one that you and I must start building now at the local level. I know I repeat myself often, but the change must start with you and your family. Then we must find local people who share our values and who are willing to follow their calling to take the lead in local governance, economies, and cultural projects. What comes next is up to us. We must start building now!