The city has become the point of reference for everything. We lament crime, the homeless problem, endless modernity, divorce of man from nature and reality, the collapse of American society, etc. But every time I take an excursion outside of the urban and suburban landscape, I’m reminded there is a different point of view.
When you live in or near say Tahlequah, OK, or Henryetta, OK, or Shawnee, OK, for that matter in or near any town far removed from the nearest city, your civic point of reference is the town. Not the city. And most towns and rural areas, while they have drugs, promiscuity, and some outlaw types, by and large most are conservative Christians, living to a great extent a conservative Christian lifestyle. It may not be a Catholic utopia with a vibrant Latin Mass parish, BVM statues in front of every house, or a bastion of pure Biblical living.
My point is, much of the time we view the darkness of these times through an urban lense. Whether church or secular news, or everyday experiences, the urban, modern landscape is enough to conclude there is very little cause for hope on the human or natural level, save for supernatural grace.
That is true in the city, but less so in rural areas.
Every problem demands a solution. It is easy to look outside your door and find no practical solution to any of this madness. But there is a practical solution, that to a great extent resolves the existential angst. And that is to get the hell out of the city, and live a country lifestyle.
Find land where you can stand on your front porch and take a leak without the neighbors calling the police, but where you can see homesteads across the horizon. People like you who most of the time just want to be left alone by those who govern others, and that includes all the do-gooder nosey neighbor “Karins,” but rather are people who at the sane time form close-nit communities where when the need arises, they will be there to help. As you will be to help them.
Protestants have put us Catholics to shame when it comes to Christian community, whether that is in a church congregation, the small town, or out in the countryside. That is one pragmatic answer to the problem of dealing with this godless society. Minimize it by minimizing contact with the godless who fill the cities, but instead move to rural America where many if not most are on some level believing Christians still with a commitment to Christian social morality. The raw fact is that means communing with objective heretics, without falling into their heresy.
Of course you could move to St Marys, KS, home to 3,000 traditional Catholics, in the town alone not counting thousands more living nearby. But that is not a realistic plan for most traditional Catholics, due to family obligations, loyalty to their roots, finding work there in your field, etc, not to mention good luck trying to buy a house in or near St Mary’s, they go fast.
In the history of mankind, still to this day, most in the world live in rural areas or towns. I myself grew up in a rural area outside a suburb, and benefited greatly from it, so the countryside is constantly drawing me back, to the creeks and ponds, pasture land and woods, neighbors who wave trustingly when passing you by, and to a much more peaceful, godly environment for families. Nothing being perfect this side of the Pearly Gates, moving rural is definitely still one viable response to the zombie urban wasteland.
Btw, check out my e-book over in the right hand corner for only $4.95, having been told it is a very good read. Plus it’s fun to distribute my first book. Still soon to publish it as a soft back.