In Saul Bellow's novel Herzog...
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In Saul Bellow's novel Herzog, the bewildered hero muses to himself about the current scene. He reasons that the chief question of this generation is not whether God is dead. He thinks that people in our time believe that death is god. Nothing has any lasting, faithful and staying power. Death waits for everything to destroy it like the cement floor waits for the falling light bulb. The observation of how fragile life is in the face of death is accurate to be sure. However, the latest polls all indicate that the majority of Americans do believe that God is alive. The real question is how much difference does God's presence make in their lives? People may be living longer, but they appear to be greatly disturbed by the fact that what they have held dear in the past may have been shattered by the swift changes and innovations in our rapidly changing society. People mourn the passing of old loyalties, solid mores and high ideals of yesteryears. The feeling is that much good has died in the crush of changing times. In the face of all that is dead and dying, the injunction of the Risen Christ comes to us to get on with the business of sharing his gospel, because he is alive and with us. -- Huxhold
