For heaven’s sake, why aren’t Scottish politicians allowed to mention the Second Coming?

Almost every high profile Scottish politician has taken the stage this year to give us a daily feast of timely stories.

Among them was Kate Forbes, who some see as the leader awaiting the SNP once the curtain falls on the clown show she’s been putting on since the sudden and unexplained resignation of Nicola Sturgeon.

Ms. Forbes, like the rest of this year’s cast, duly gifted us with some interesting snippets. Among them was her joke that the return of Jesus could come before a second referendum on independence.

The savior of the world could return at any time, the MSPs for Skye, Lochaber and Badenoch have said, but reinstating the fabled independence referendum could “require a bit of work”.

It was a perfectly decent line and a lot funnier than the joke that won best in class at this year’s comedy festival.

Not surprisingly, however, it was derided by some sections of Scottish society, as the idea of ​​a Christian expressing their Christian faith prompts them to reach for the diocalm. They suggested that it was this nonsense that showed why it was a good thing that she narrowly lost the election as leader of the SNP.

Day of the Redeemer
As I’m sure you all know, the parousia is central to all Christian eschatology. It simply states that the Savior will return to earth sometime after his ascension some 2,000 years ago.

The Gospel of Matthew gives us a reasonably graphic and dramatic account of what will happen when Jesus returns. Basically, we should all be in good ethics if we want to join him in paradise.

Matthew writes: “Then there will be two in the field; one shall be taken and the other left.

“Two women are to grind at the mill – one is taken and the other is left.

“So watch out! For you do not know at what hour your Lord is coming.

“But know this: If the head of the house had known in which watch the thief would come, he would have kept watch and would not have allowed his house to be destroyed.

“Therefore you also be ready, for in an hour when you are not thinking, the Son of Man is coming.”
So it’s official then: The Second Coming could happen at any time. It’s just that in some dark corners of Scotland it’s just not acceptable for Christians to dare to speak what they believe to be the truth according to their faith.

flock on the vine
About a day later, English newspaper columnist Sarah Vine was also mocked for expressing her belief in the Almighty.

Responding to the Lucy Letby case, she said, “Just as seeing that beautiful rainbow over Windsor on the day the Queen died confirms belief in God…the Lucy Letby case makes me wonder if the devil really walks among us.”

But this, too, as Mrs. Forbes’s marginal observation, was a simple expression of personal belief.

May I refer you to the King James Version of 1 Peter 5:8? “Be sober, be alert; for your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

The Diary is a laid back Chiel who wants everyone to be comfortable in their own skin and – to paraphrase the great JK Rowling – live their best life.

We understand that many do not share our belief that Jesus is the Son of God and that He may soon emerge again. But we will keep fighting for you.

All we ask is the freedom to express some aspects of our faith from time to time without feeling like social outcasts.

water for lamentation
Of course we say all that, but sometimes even Christians can get caught up in the abandonment culture when they try to bring something quirky and witty to the proceedings.

This was in connection with an article we wrote for the old Catholic Observer some time ago.

In it we indicated that the culmination of our favorite miracle of all time is that of Jesus turning the water into wine at the wedding of Cana.

This led to some ultramontane guys calling for our release for not taking the word of God seriously enough.

How reassuring and life-affirming we wrote that the Son of God on his miracle debut decided to brew gallons of wine at his mate’s wedding to keep the event running smoothly.

Nor did Jesus have to worry about watching for the unknown hour when the Lord might come unannounced. For at that time He was not finished with His first coming.