Many authors have made use of the image of a veil, including C.S. Lewis in his novel Till We Have Faces. Lewis presents a veil, worn by the character Orual, which is used as a device not merely to hide her from others, but from herself. But, is this device just a literary device? Or is it the device used by billions of people today?
Since the fall, the human race has a natural tendency to shrink from facing the truth squarely. In recent years, however, the truth is much more obscured and our generation is not only shrinking from it, but actually turning their backs on it. Today, the truth of the human person is being denied. Within the last decade, their dignity has been attacked and trampled.
From 2012 to date, the percentage of individuals identifying as homosexual in the U.S. has doubled, increasing from 3.5%-7.1%. This surge in numbers demonstrates the inability of this generation to face not just the truth, but themselves. It leads me to ask, how many more veils can be placed on our generation before they are unable to see at all? They have veiled their eyes from the truth about their nature and about God. What is left? And how can these veils be removed?
As I was driving late at night, it struck me how when you drive in daylight, the faces of those operating other vehicles are visible and how a person can be clearly seen behind the wheel, not just a machine moving. At night, however, the LED lights of the vehicle are blinding so that it is almost impossible to see the driver. Instead of being able to look through the veil of the windshield, you are met with technology and machinery.
Modern man is afraid of himself because he sees the world as something which they can manufacture. Thus, failure to shape themselves perfectly (as a machine may be shaped) must be a failure in the building process. The modern man sees himself as a piece of defective machinery. Broken machinery is useless; therefore, machines that fail at the purpose for which they are intended are discarded (as in abortion), or if “wholly” defective are discontinued entirely (as in gender ideology).
The issue with this mindset is evident. If we were the masterminds and unassisted creators of ourselves, then perhaps this systematic disposal would be a valid response. But the existence of a God reveals that we are not. Instead of falling into depression and struggling with mental health because we are trying to carry this unnecessary weight upon our shoulders, we are invited to leave the creation to the Creator and simply work on shaping what has been provided. So how can we avert the disaster which modernity has brought upon itself with its attempt to become gods?
J.R.R. Tolkein writes,
“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”
Very well, fighting is necessary to avert this disaster.
The only real way to fight must be to shatter the false mirror of the masses, the mirror which distorts reality so that the only worthwhile values we can see are scientific facts, efficiency, and utility. One of the many mirrors in our day to day lives is television and the internet. Accordingly, the first small steps in this battle must begin in our own homes.
Do we give the mirror to our children and help them to grow accustomed to looking in it too, or do we show them how it portrays a false image of reality and warn them of its dangers? Do we support the culture of the mirror in our dress, our activities, our use of money, etc.?
As we make these small steps in the home, we can advance beyond our own doors to the rest of the world. You cannot fight the mirror with another – though perhaps better – mirror. No half truths or partial support will win the battle. Compromise, indeed, makes a good umbrella but a poor roof.
It is the duty of the man who is convicted of the evils that the mirror presents to wipe out not just the distortion which he thinks to be the greatest, but to fight for even the smallest blemishes to be removed. The greatest victory will come when the mirror is replaced by a window pane which makes the truth itself visible, not just its reflections.
If every man who doubted in the mirror gathered the boldness to ask for window panes in its place, he would not go lacking. The truth is abundant and it has a beautiful mark which makes its destruction impossible: consistency. Because truth has no error, it must be victorious. So, let us fight. In the words of St. Augustine of Hippo, “The truth is like a lion; you don’t have to defend it. Let it loose; it will defend itself.”
The fight need not be belligerent; indeed, fighting fire with fire is futile. But it does require you to take a stand, however quietly. So, whether you fight for the whole world to see or you fight unobtrusively behind the backs of other warriors, let the truth loose. Once the world is shown the window glass, they will not be able to find satisfaction in the mirror, try though they may. Do not be content with the mirror, for one day, it will shatter, and with it all the souls who never lived beyond it.
