By They say strong men create good times
and good times create weak men
and weak men create hard times
and thus, our time
our lot
damn the complacency
the negligence
the atrophy of apathy
and the pride of prosperity
I too was mesmerized by modernity
I guess left to our own devices
we get pretty obsessed with our own devices
maybe we needed to be knocked from our narcosis
dislodged from our coffee shops
prodded out of our man caves
maybe we needed the curtain pulled back
to make us reconsider our allegiances
to get us to reprioritize our convictions
over our conveniences
to wake up from the slumber of simulation
and become real again
we hereby opt out of dystopia
we reject the false consensus
that has been presented by deceptive despots
we request that you cancel our memberships
your treadmills aren’t taking us anywhere
your water fountains just make us more thirsty for likes
we’re going outside
we’ve got mountains of possibility to get to
and rivers of living water to splash in
we are thirsty for life
we’ve got heartbeats that pound to a rhythm
so sublime
I weep for your trifling algorithms
so shallow, so blind
we will not be defined by the times in which we exist
we are not digits of digital currency
we are diamonds mined from earth
refined by the fervent heat of eternity
we will not be pacified by soma
no matter how sweet
we will not be purchasing property in your Metaverse
no matter how opulent the street
we will not forfeit our bodies
we will not sacrifice our skin
we will have no king but Jesus
we will be sanctified in him
we will launch out into the deep
we will cast these tattered and worn nets
and no matter what comes of the catch
we are done fishing for fulfillment in our own heads
we are done waking to
the morning breath of the Adversary in our own beds
we will change the climate
of contention
we will reengage our senses
as we reconnect with reality
and all the divine elements of our conception
we are not commodities
we will not be reduced to consumers
for we are constructors
and we will build
and serve
and lift
and learn
and laugh
and weep
and dance
and mourn
we will rejoice
I say again, rejoice
for we are no longer strangers and foreigners
but fellow citizens and friends
dogged sojourners in this earthly city
with eyes fixed on the city of God
we see it clearly, and it is beautiful
there will be no more distorting of our destinies
there will be no more consenting
to the forging of our identities
we are beautiful, and it is clear
we are not transactions
you may track us and spam us
you can scan our fingerprints and faces
you can peruse our purchases
and eavesdrop on all of our conversations
but no amount of surveillance will reveal to you
what we’re really made of
we are not information
no amount of artificial intelligence
will ever comprehend the glory of God
we draw from a well of infinite potential and power
so you will not turn our lights out
our parents will be in our homes
not in the White House
we will plant seeds in the same soil
that our ancestors toiled to till
we will harvest our gardens
and savor the flavor
we will reap what we sow
but even better
we will reap what we didn’t sow
by the abundant grace of our savior
we will speak of the creator in awe and admiration
as he speaks his nature in us
and in all of his grand creations
we will speak truth in love
and we will love the truth
we will sweat and strive
and yes, we will bleed
may that blood remind us
that we are still alive
and not yet machines
we will fight for peace
because it is not war that we are waging
this may be our lot
but it is not where we are staying
we will tackle the task before us
because what matters is not the kind of times
we find ourselves living in
but the kind of lives we live in the time that we have
and they will be good
They will be good.
