What They Stole Cannot Be Paid Back by Robert Socha

One non-refundable stolen year has passed.

Without just compensation, birthdays, family gatherings, burials, holidays, vacations, sporting events, conventions, the arts, travel, all purloined supposedly to stop the spread of a deadly virus.

I call foul! Are we expected to “return to normal” without just compensation? And I’m not speaking of a paltry $1,400!

There is but one commodity that is not replaceable: time. The time we have lost over this past year is irredeemable, and it is a damnable lie that continues to keep us shackled to the dictates of our elected representatives. We have chosen these men and women to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. Instead, they have usurped its chains and commanded obedience to draconian impositions.

Our children will never get back the stolen events and opportunities canceled due to unmitigated fear and excessive knee-jerk reactions. Our friends and neighbors who have lost their livelihood may never regain the momentum and advancement they had worked so diligently to achieve. Our country has sunk deeper into debauched lunacy, spending money without restraint, appointing men without common sense, and perpetrating Orwellian narratives demanding submission.

Thankfully some governors’ renaissance has lifted their constituents from despotic doldrums. I am encouraged by these events and the continued restraint exercised to this day by the People. Still, the severe damage inflicted on the American psyche and the restoration of American order shadowed through the President’s persistent negativity and Intolerable Acts may inevitably lead to her imminent demise.

There is an account of another man whose life was stolen without just compensation. Sold into slavery at a young age, this man became the property of another. I can only imagine the depths of despair and anguish he must have endured, having been betrayed by those he loved and trusted the most. Yet, as he served his new master, he prospered and found favor with the man until an unjust accusation landed him in prison.

Imagine for a moment the righteous indignation toward the situation he found himself. He could have languished in misery and hopelessness, complaining about the unjust circumstance. Instead, he chose to nurture a plant within the jail cell, which caught the warden’s attention and promoted him to overseeing the other prisoners, himself being one. During his sentence, another man’s betrayal came after he gave hope and inspiration through the interpretation of a dream with the expectation that the man would become an advocate for his release. Yet, he languished two more years in prison for a crime he did not commit after being betrayed into slavery by those he loved and trusted the most.

I fear that the whittling of our resolve through continual setbacks and disappointments opportune to break our collective will. But I take courage when I look to Joseph’s life (Genesis 37 – 45) and the way he chose to engage the conditions he endured. Instead of falling into abject despair, he found a way to prosper in every situation.

I take this opportunity to remind you the end of Joseph’s heroic life was the reconciliation and salvation of his family! We have the same choices to make that Joseph made. In the face of unprecedented global panic and digital control, be encouraged that what is meant to be evil and cloud judgment our testimony overcomes.

What are we to do with the time we have left? Let us redeem it!

We can choose to languish in the prison of our minds and the Orwellian situation we find ourselves, becoming bitter and discontent, or we can choose the following: to use our talents to help our neighbors prosper, to nurture a plant to live in the darkest cell, to encourage one another and speak life even when dreams and worry cause despondency, to shake off the shackles of despotic overreach and live for Christ, forgetting what is behind and pressing on toward the goal, loving the Lord with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.