Jeremiah 21:8-10. God is commanding Jeremiah to go tell the people of Jerusalem to surrender to the Chaldeans before the city falls into the hands of Babylon. He says he is setting before them "the way of life and the way of death." Anyone who stays in the city will die, but those who surrender "shall live and shall have [their] life as a prize of war." For the Lord has set his face against the city and will give it over to the king of Babylon "and he shall burn it with fire."

This relates to a lot of what I addressed in The Point of No Return and Some Quantum Randomness. That was a little more than five months ago, and things have only gotten worse - the pride and the arrogance in our sin and our wrongness is still going strong, and being rewarded, while anyone who tries to speak the truth is silenced. I really do think we are on the verge of something truly awful, and I don't think there is much of a chance of stopping it at this point.

It is not only our country and the world that are on the brink, the Church itself is suffering massive fractures and is in peril. Many of the faithful, who turn to the Church for comfort while the world turns against them (as they should), do not feel at home even there. I think God might be preparing the Church for a cleansing fall, just like Jerusalem here (remember, the Church is the New Jerusalem). The faithful who don't feel at home in the Church right now are the exiles - their faith (which is life) will be preserved, but they have to realize that they must be in exile from complete communion with the Church for a little while. That is the way to stay safe - preserve the Truth in your heart in exile while the Church suffers through its cleansing. Don't leave the Church, is the only place we can get the Sacraments, and it is the only institution that will survive until the end of time, but don't be too alarmed about it not feeling fully like home right now.

Many members of the Church will remain fully committed to it as it goes astray. They are the ones who will remain in Jerusalem and die. Not literally, but their apostasy, their corruption, and all the evil things that they are allowing to fester for the sake of "getting along" with the world - they all have to go. God knows how to cleanse his Church and he will. Then the exiles will be brought back in joy.

All the faithful will then feel fully at home again in our Church, just as we are meant to be.