Uncle Samson

The story of Samson is not just a historical tale, but is a parable for students of human nature. If you recall, Samson was a hero of faith, chosen by God from before birth to guide and protect his fellow citizens. Because he was the biggest and baddest dude in town, he took advantage of his natural abilities and lived life to the full. His tale is full of fabulous escapades; he was the unstoppable hero of his day.

Enter Delilah. Samson knew she worked for the Philistines, and he delighted in toying with the danger. He was God's man, even when he didn't act like it. He knew in his heart that he was unstoppable, because no matter how dim the prospects, Samson had always won in the end.

Eventually Samson told Delilah his secret. He no longer took seriously the special calling he had from God. While he slept on her knees, she shaved his head. Then she did what she had done several times before -- she woke him with the news that he was under attack.

Samson jumped up, ready to do his hero thing once again. The story tells us, "He didn't realize that the gift from the LORD had been withdrawn." [Yes, I know that's a loose paraphrase, but so is my whole telling of the tale.] His enemies poked out his eyes, and put him to work as a slave.

The Founding Fathers, though they differed among themselves in exactly what they believed, all had a staunch faith that God (or as some of them put it, following the pattern of John Calvin, Divine Providence) had taken an interest in their fledgling country. He had brought it through the War for Independence, and in their minds, had commissioned them to launch a Union with a backbone of law -- a Republic, with equal justice under the law, and chains upon the government to keep it from eating the peoples' freedoms.

Over 200 years have passed since that Union was launched with ratification of the Constitution by the first 9 States. The Union has grown to 50, and the Constitution has been amended 27 times. Some of the amendments -- the first 10, and numbers 13-15, 19 and 26, have clarified the rights of individuals under the law. Some, like the 16th and 17th, which permitted the imposition of taxes on individuals and made possible the control of elections by national political parties, have had serious unintended consequences.

Like Samson, Uncle Sam has grown careless about his special calling. Our Congress has flirted with an attractive prostitute, the foreign investors on whom it has relied to finance living life to the full. The people trusted Congress with the national credit card, and Congress has run up the bill so high that it cannot be paid in our lifetimes, nor in the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren. It has mortgaged us to the tune of $12,400,000,000,000 -- yes, 12.4 million million dollars -- and is at this moment considering raising its credit limit another 1.9 million million dollars.

The interest alone, paid on T-bills in the first 3 months of fiscal year 2010, was $145,000,000,000. As the risk of our default rises (we are spending much faster than we are taking in tax dollars), the interest rate demanded by our foreign creditors must rise. Our spending, except for national defense, and maintenance of our obligations to our Social Security system, must be frozen in order to avoid financial catastrophe, slavery, and war.

There are those who believe that Uncle Sam can simply wake up, and like Samson, say, "I will go out as at other times before, and find a way out of this mess." They do not realize the depth of the problem. Like Samson, they refuse to face the reality that because of our lack of good stewardship, the gift from the LORD has been withdrawn.

There are those who think that our current situation is similar to that which was faced in the Great Depression. They are wrong. In the Great Depression, we were our own creditors. In this Super Depression, we owe our mortgage to the Chinese and other foreign creditors.

In the very near future, life in America will change drastically. As a Union, we may or may not survive. Will we trade California, or Alaska, or the Pacific Northwest, to escape our mortgage and avoid war with China? On our present course, we cannot pay what we owe. Historically, the Masters of China have shown no compunction when it comes to enslaving hundreds of millions of their own citizens, or even killing tens of millions at a time.

We cannot go back to what used to be, and we have never gone this way before. God is calling America to repentance. Will we return to following our Constitution, or will we sleep in the lap of our Delilah until the Philistines are at the door?