The Spirit of Escape

There seems to have come to dwell among us the spirit of escape. Perhaps it has always been present, but the tenseness of our times makes it more apparent. We seem to want to escape reality; to postpone the day of settlement; to prefer present pleasure to future happiness; to escape the consequences of our own mistakes. There are those who would rather mortgage the future than curtail their appetites. There are those who would like to escape from truth, because it isn’t convenient. There are those who count heavily on mercy and the opportunities of the moment, rather than on justice and the certain reckoning of the future, rather than face the facts and pay the price and begin again on substantial foundations. Some prefer to continue on borrowed time, always with the shadow of inevitable consequences hanging over them, but never looking at things quite squarely. No doubt there would be less of the spirit of escape if we could bring ourselves to the realization that there is no such thing as permanent postponement. Retribution cannot forever be out-run. The judgments of men may be slow, but they are sure, and yet more certain are the judgments of God. No one was ever able to cheat at anything permanently. No one has ever been able to postpone a time of reckoning forever even though he may have departed this life before he faced the facts. And since there is no way of permanent escape, to all who seek an easy way out it should be said: Face the issues as they come; pay the price, whatever it is; make your peace; put your house in order, and build on sure foundations for that future wherein no mistakes have yet been made.