The Spirit and the Flesh Read online

  Sean felt absolutely no inclination to get with the times. He was firm and unswerving in his principles. He stood firm in his morals, not worrying about what the rest of the world might think of him, or whether the rest of the world might mock him and laugh at him. He refused to cave in to human respect.

  But whilst Sean was now very steadfast in his beliefs, his religious convictions hadn’t always been so strong. He was brought up in a household with a very devout Catholic mother but a father who was indifferent, and in his teenage years Sean followed in his dad’s footsteps for a time, straying from the faith and becoming agnostic. He got involved with quite a riotous group of lads, who drank heavily, smoked and were into pornography, and their influence rubbed off on him. His loss of faith was also brought on by a developed interest in philosophy – especially the secular, atheistic sort – which made him question everything, including the faith he was brought up with. In the midst of this, he changed into somewhat of an “anything goes” liberal, becoming a heavy drinker and a smoker. However, his mother never stopped praying for him to come back to his faith.

  Sean lost his faith but found it again in the aftermath of an event that would change his life forever. The event was a serious car accident which in normal circumstances should have ended his life. The accident occurred when Sean went for a “fun” drive with one of his pals, who was driving. Both he and his friend had had a fair bit to drink before this fun drive, resulting in his friend recklessly turning too sharply into a side street and catching the kerb, which caused the car to flip over. While Sean’s friend somehow managed to escape serious injury by clinging to the steering wheel, Sean was knocked unconscious and fell into a coma. By the time the ambulance reached the hospital the medics feared the worst. His family were told he almost certainly wouldn’t make it. But despite doctors giving him no chance, his family still prayed unceasingly for him, including his religiously lapsed dad. And it seemed their prayers were answered. Against all the odds, Sean survived. Not only that but his condition stabilised.

  Despite his seemingly miraculous return from the dead, doctors were sure that Sean would have severe neurological problems for the remainder of his life. An MRI brain scan backed up this prognosis. However, it seemed the miracles weren’t over yet. His family continued to pray incessantly for him and gave him holy water from Lourdes to drink, and within a few weeks of the accident Sean had made unexpected progress. Doctors discovered, to their befuddlement, that his condition was actually reversing itself. Within three months he’d fully recovered from his head injuries, save for some scarring. New brain scans showed he was back to normal, leaving his doctors perplexed and dumbfounded.

  In the aftermath of these extraordinary events, Sean gave his life back to Christ and returned to his Catholic faith. His healing – which he was sure was a miraculous gift from Christ – gave him a strength of faith he’d never had before. Indeed, it had the effect of giving him an almost unshakeable faith.

  Because drink was partly responsible for the accident, Sean felt the need to completely abstain from alcohol, and he pledged himself to a life of temperance. It also dawned on him that before he became a drinker and smoker (and when his faith was still strong) he was a much happier and more content person.

  In the midst of Sean coming back to his faith, he came to appreciate that many in the world were without faith. Even his home city of Newcastle – a city which had historically always had a strong Catholic presence (due to Irish immigration) – was now, in 2001, secularised and indifferent to Christian morals, like the rest of Britain. Secularists – composed of liberals, Marxists, humanists and other atheistic groups – were well and truly in control of the world around him. And he came to understand that this move away from Christian morals hadn’t taken place by accident – there was a group of people in the world who had accumulated great political and economic power, and this group had deliberately set out to put an end to the Christian influence on the world and establish a “new world order”, putting Man at the centre of all things, as opposed to God or Christ.

  Sean saw several negative aspects to a society turning its back on Christ, but three major consequences in particular.

  The first was the loss of a sense of sin, with people believing they could do exactly as they pleased without fear of the consequences of breaking God’s laws. Following on from this was the rejection of the idea that man is cursed by original sin (passed on by Adam and Eve), that he is a fallen creature in need of a Saviour, in need of being spiritually brought back to life by a divine Redeemer.

  The second was the lack of appreciation of the existence of eternity or an afterlife, prompting people to only live for the present moment – so people’s lives become driven by the search for earthly pleasure and comforts, neglecting the spirit of sacrifice or selflessness. Along with this, there was no longer an appreciation of the existence of heaven or hell and little or no concept that a person’s behaviour and choices they made on earth would have a bearing on their eternal destiny – either heaven or hell forever!

  The third major consequence he saw, of the emergence of atheism and the rejection of Christ, was the rejection of absolute truth and absolute morals, so all morality becomes relative – in other words, there were no longer any absolute standards of right and wrong. This moral relativism led to a breakdown of sexual ethics, and, in turn, sexual immorality had a detrimental effect on the institutions of marriage and family. With marriage and family being the pillars that a strong society is built upon, when these institutions become weakened, society will automatically weaken with it.

  Sean came to understand that in a culture where there are no absolute standards of right and wrong, people will always be drawn towards living according to feelings and impulses, to whatever pleases the senses and feels good, as opposed to what is actually good. The inevitable end result is a culture of self-gratification, naturally leaning towards selfishness. In a culture such as this, vice will always have dominion over virtue – and the flesh will always have dominion over the spirit. But as far as Sean was concerned, living by the philosophy of moral relativism and “doing what thou wilt” – in defiance of God’s natural moral law – could never lead to happiness. It would always lead to the very opposite, because rebellion against the natural law kills the life of grace in the soul and leads to spiritual darkness, therefore depriving a person of any true lasting joy and ultimately leading that person to hell.

  For Sean, nothing could better embody the culture of self-gratification than the red-light district of Amsterdam – often described as the “liberal man’s paradise” and the “realm of no limits” – where, theoretically, a man could fulfil all his earthly wants and desires. Sean’s housemates, Roger and Paul, had fallen for this proposition, and this was the bait that was luring them to Amsterdam. However, the reason Sean had agreed to join them on this trip – as Roger rightly suspected – was to throw a spanner in their works. It was his intention to discourage Roger and Paul with words, to give them something to think about. He believed that they were both on the road to hell, and it was his moral duty to do all he could to lead them out of their current darkness, through lots of prayer and penance, and through evangelising to them in as effective a way as he knew how.

  Sean was ready for an argument. He was bracing himself for the inevitable attacks that would come from Roger for not joining in with all the fun and frolics. From the day they first met there’d been a tension between himself and Roger; they’d struggled to get on friendly terms with one another due to nothing more than a clash of personalities and clash of outlooks. But Sean knew there had to be a showdown between them, where they could settle their differences in a “friendly” argument. Sean was eager to get things off his chest to Roger, and he’d set his sights on this upcoming weekend break in Amsterdam to have a lot of serious conversation and debate with him.

  In the event of them having an intellectual debate, Sean was bright enough to know that he’d have to meet Roger on his wavelength by keeping supernatural propositions in reserve and basing his arguments more on reason and logic. He was prepared to show that his religious and moral convictions were based on reason and logic and not just on blind faith. And by God’s grace he was ready to give answers and repel any attacks from his sceptical housemate with nothing less than what he held to be the truth.

  3

  Brits Abroad

  The first day of their three-day Dutch adventure had arrived. It was a bright, warmish Friday afternoon in the centre of Amsterdam. After their flight from Heathrow, and then train journey from Schiphol airport to Amsterdam Centraal station, Roger, Paul and Sean were now walking the streets of Holland’s capital city – this after checking in to their hotel (which happily for Roger was situated halfway between the station and the red-light district). They were walking along the Damrak – which could be described as central Amsterdam’s “high street”. They’d decided to head out and get a bite to eat, and as they walked they took in the sights, sounds and atmosphere of central Amsterdam, absorbing the city’s ambience. The Renaissance architecture, canals and fast-moving trams on the spacious, hectic roads made immediate impressions on Paul and Sean, who’d never been before, and they were both stirred by the city’s picturesque charm. And all three of them experienced the usual excitement and adrenalin rush of being in a foreign land, of being somewhere different.

  Amsterdam was a city that built its name on trade and commerce. A major modern-day trade of Amsterdam’s was the tourist industry, and there was no shortage of tourists about, especially British ones.

  In the midst of this touristy atmosphere, Roger, Paul and Sean ambled around to find somewhere where they could eat. Eventually they found a food van selling Dutch hotdogs (knackwursts). They all had one each. After eating these they moved on and soon came across another food van, this time selling stroopwafels – disc-shaped biscuits made with compressed wafers and syrup – and they bought and happily devoured a batch of these.

  After eating, they walked about a bit more. Roger pointed out to Paul and Sean central Amsterdam’s most famous monuments, but he was keen to get all this mundane sightseeing stuff out of the way as quickly as possible so he could head towards the red-light area. Meanwhile, Sean was keen to visit the Basilica of St Nicholas, Amsterdam’s largest Catholic place of worship (he planned to go there for Sunday Mass), but he reasoned that Roger wouldn’t be keen to walk near any church, so he decided to save it for later when he was on his own.

  Eventually, Roger took Paul and Sean along the Damrak to the start of a side street which led to the district of De Wallen – the red-light district. Roger pointed in the direction of the infamous area and spoke.

  ‘There it is,’ he said, excitedly. ‘Heaven is a place on earth – and that’s where you’ll find it!’

  Paul looked on with a gleam in his eyes. He was filled with curiosity.

  Roger then turned to Sean.

  ‘Are you sure you won’t be joining us there later?’ he asked him.

  Sean fervidly shook his head.

  Roger and Paul then began to engage in their own conversation. As they talked, Sean’s attention was drawn to a young busker sitting to the left of him at the start of the side street where they were standing. The busker was sitting on some flattened cardboard, strumming an acoustic guitar without singing. Sean was compelled to walk over to him, which he did. After approaching the busker, he exchanged some friendly words with him and discovered he was English, and then he generously handed him a couple of gilders.

  ‘Thank you, sir,’ the friendly-faced English busker said. ‘Have a nice day and God bless you.’

  There was genuine warmth and kindness in the English busker’s voice, which impressed Sean – who would gladly have handed him a couple of gilders more. Sean then walked back to Roger and Paul and was greeted by a look of appreciation from Paul, who was impressed by the display of generosity.

  After a little more walking around, they decided to embark on that very British custom – a pub crawl. Roger guided them to a British pub he knew well, just on the outskirts of the red-light district. The pub was called The Saint George, and a large St George flag was displayed on the outside canopy (Amsterdam had quite a smattering of British and Irish pubs, to cater for the hordes of tourists which flooded in from these isles). Inside, the pub was decked out like a typical traditional British pub. In the background could be heard a jukebox playing some Britpop music. And to go with this very British setting was a strong British presence. The air was thick with the sound of various British dialects. For added authenticity, The Saint George served traditional British beers and food, and a barman and two barmaids all wearing St George flag T-shirts were serving at the bar.

  In the crowded pub, Roger and Paul ordered pints of lager, whilst teetotaller Sean made do with a mineral water. They managed to find a table for themselves and sat down with their drinks.

  ‘It feels like we’re still in England,’ said Paul. ‘I can’t believe how many Brits are here. There’s tons of us.’

  ‘I told you,’ said Roger. ‘We always outnumber the natives when you get near the red-light area.’

  While Roger and Paul continued to chat, a quiet Sean was busy observing his surroundings. It felt odd being in a foreign land and yet finding himself in such a familiar setting. Then he turned his attention to Roger, who was proposing to Paul his plans for the day.

  ‘We’ll go to a couple more pubs after this, then I’ll show you around the red light,’ he told him. ‘I’ve got our programme all mapped out. We’ll visit some X-rated shops, then I’ll take you to a coffee shop to smoke a joint or two, then we’ll visit another pub for more beer. And we can repeat that cycle as often as you want. How’s that for a plan?’

  ‘Yeah, I’m game for that,’ said a smiling Paul. ‘You lead and I’ll follow.’

  ‘Of course, the red light doesn’t really come alive until after dark,’ said Roger. ‘That’s when the ladies of the night come on display! I’ll be carefully examining every single brothel window until I’ve found the very best-looking babe to splash my cash on. After that we’ll end the night at an erotic club where we can watch a live sex show – that’s not a bad way to end a Friday night, eh?’

  Roger glanced at Sean as he spoke. He enjoyed shocking him. Meanwhile, shivers of excitement ran through Paul, who was more than game for Roger’s proposals for the night. Roger then turned to Sean.

  ‘So, what will you be doing today?’ he asked. ‘I mean, seeing as you won’t be joining us in the red-light area, how will you be spending your time?’

  ‘I’ll just wander around and take in some more of the atmosphere and scenery,’ Sean replied in his pleasant Geordie accent. ‘Then I might go back to the hotel and just relax for a bit before coming out again.’

  Roger rolled his eyes, still unsure why Sean had joined them on the trip.

  Paul then had a suggestion for Roger.

  ‘What say we meet up later with Sean for supper at a restaurant?’

  Roger paused before responding.

  ‘Yeah… we could do,’ he eventually said, pretending to be keen on the idea – but really he preferred Sean to be out of the way.

  Time passed, and the pub remained busy, full of tourists – mostly groups of British lads. There were lots of shouts and laughter, lots of profanities and four-letter words, and no shortage of rowdiness. Roger began to take notice of one of the barmaids busily serving behind the bar. She was a youngish, pretty redhead, and he wasn’t the only man in the pub whose attention she’d managed to attract.

  ‘Check out the redhead at the bar,’ Roger told Paul and Sean. ‘Not bad, eh? I’m not normally into redheads but I wouldn’t say no to her. Y’know, if we find someone as good-looking as that in the brothel windows tonight I’ll be well pleased. She’s an absolute doll. She’s just about worthy of me.’

  Paul let out a loud laugh at Roger’s arrogance.

  As Roger was in the barmaid’s line of sight, he pumped out his chest muscles in an effort to impress her with his physique, but he was slightly annoyed that she seemed to focus more attention on Sean. Sean was tall, slender and blessed with Irish good looks (despite the scarring on the side of his head, he always managed to attract attention from females).

  Roger then proceeded to come out with a string of lewd, lustful comments over the barmaid, not worrying about offending Sean with his language. He actually wanted to draw Sean into an argument, into a discussion where they could put their differing worldviews up against one another. He also wanted an argument that would give him an opportunity to dismantle Sean’s religious beliefs. Meanwhile, Sean wanted to gently rebuke Roger for his crass comments but was stuck for the right words.

  ‘Yeah, Amsterdam was made for us British,’ Roger began to assert. ‘Once we Brits get a sniff of drink, drugs and depravity, there’s no holding us back. We’re like rampant, unstoppable rhinos when it comes to enjoying the pleasurable things in life – it’s in our genes.’

  Sean put on a forced smile at Roger’s words, and again didn’t comment. He wanted to respond but was worried that if he sounded too preachy it could make Roger worse. He knew his words had to be right.

  ‘No one can party or let loose like us British,’ Roger continued. ‘If there was a competition to find the world’s greatest party animals, we’d win it. We know what life’s all about. Drink, drugs and depravity! That’s what life’s all about. Ha, ha, ha!’

  Roger took a swig of his pint before continuing.