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Luke 11:52. "Woe to you lawyers! for you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter yourselves, and you hindered those who were entering." 

 

This line really spoke to me, especially in light of what I touched on yesterday about the way humanity is being led into a false reality. Jesus is talking to the Jewish lawyers here, the men who interpreted the law of Moses, not secular lawyers operating under Roman law. He is accusing them of having the key of knowledge, which they do - they have and know the law of Moses, but hiding it from themselves and those they were supposed to be helping. Then, even when some try to seek the truth on their own, the lawyers hinder them from gaining access to it.

 

This is what I briefly touched on yesterday as what is happening to society, largely enabled by technology and social media. We have societal "gatekeepers" who are supposed to be seeking out and passing on to us knowledge and truth. On a secular level, these would be people like journalists, politicians, fact checkers, judges, doctors, scientists, educators, and the like. In order for these gatekeepers, these holders of the key, to pass on knowledge, however, they have to have a commitment to it themselves. They have to want to know the truth, seek it out, and pass it on despite any personal discomfort it may cause them. This is how we maintain society - by passing on truth to future generations. But our current society has created such a comfortable and superficially plausible false reality, and punishes truth seeking so severely, that our gatekeepers have allowed themselves to enjoy the comforts of the false narrative and their positions in it, and have abandoned seeking the truth. They have taken away the key of knowledge.

 

The false reality is not comfortable for everyone, however (fewer every day, in fact), and its plausibility crumbles when one looks at it carefully, as those who it makes uncomfortable are prone to do. So those oppressed or confused by the false narrative begin searching for knowledge on their own. Independent journalists, podcasters, doctors, lawyers, and similar have risen up to try and fill this need, but they face very strong opposition from the entrenched powers that be and are often canceled, silenced, and punished. This silencing becomes much easier with our modern technological abilities. As things like artificial intelligence become stronger and more widespread; are utilized by governments completely dependent on the preservation of the narrative; and are created and programmed by a tech culture that largely believes the narrative and wants to avoid government interference to boot, we can see the makings of a practically worldwide totalitarian state unlike any ever known to man.

 

That is the secular side of things, but Jesus was talking to the religious leaders. The Jews were under Roman rule, much like the religious of today are under the rule of governments at best indifferent, but becoming intolerant, of their religious beliefs. But the Jews had their faith, and that should have led them to the truth. Unfortunately, the religious leaders were too caught up in the politics and culture of the time to want to "speak truth to power," so they withheld the knowledge they should have learned and passed on, knowledge which would have enabled the people to at least find comfort in their faith. As the faithful of today face this massive and growing threat, we have our faith to turn to, as well; it really is the only answer. Our faith leaders should be seeking truth and passing it on to us to equip us, and many of them are, but some seem caught up in the narrative and unwilling to learn the truth, just like the lawyers to whom Jesus spoke. These religious gatekeepers are hiding the key, even from themselves, and when the faithful try to point out the flimsiness, and often sinfulness, of the narrative to them, they will not listen.

 

So here we are, it is not a great place (but it is a very exciting one, to me at least)! God is always in control and is allowing all of this for a greater good, we can be absolutely certain that is true. Those of us who see the lies can and should do our best to bring others around. That is our mission. God is giving time for those who don't see and are thus contributing to the problem to wake up, and we can help them if we act in truth and with charity.

 

This really is a massive spiritual battle that is playing out in the material world. In order to properly engage in the battle, we need knowledge and wisdom. The key to those things is God's Word which He has entrusted to the Church. So never give up on the faith, and never stop practicing it. If we find a particular priest or member of the hierarchy seems to be "hiding the key," we should seek other sources, there are many and they are excellent (we should also, if we have a relationship with that priest, gently try to show him the truth). We must gain the knowledge we need to fight this battle; the Holy Spirit is happy to help us find it if we seek it!