The world is about to turn

By Tom Quiner, Board President, Pulse Life Advocates

History is about to pivot. Demography, technology, religion, governance, and international balance of power are all undergoing seismic shifts. The future of the unborn hangs in the balance.

Are these shifts for the good or the bad? Probably both, but they’re coming, whether we like them or not.

We sang a robust hymn at Mass Sunday, “The Canticle of the Turning.” It’s a hymn for the age. The liturgical songwriter, Rory Cooney, wrote a remarkable set of lyrics in 1990 based on the Magnificat in Luke 1. He set them to a traditional Irish Ballad, “Star of the County Down.”

Notre Dame men sing “The World Is About to Turn”

The refrain acknowledges the joy of a Christian, regardless of which way the world turns:

My heart shall sing of the day you bring

Let the fires of your justice burn;

Wipe away all tears

For the dawn draws near,

And the world is about to turn!

Much meaning is packed into these concise words. The word that stands out is justice. Does the world face a reckoning with God? Are the fires of His justice about to burn?

The Fourth Turning

The word ‘turn’ brings to mind the 1997 book, “The Fourth Turning.” Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe identify what they claim are the cycles of history. They describe the four generational cycles that typically last eighty to ninety years:

In our current age, the First Turning (1946-1963) is ‘the High,’ characterized by strong institutions formed following an era of crisis. Institutions grow strong and society enjoys a collective purpose;

The Second Turning (1960s thru the ‘80s), ‘the Awakening,’ characterized by cultural rebellion, spiritual exploration, and growing non-conformity;

The Third Turning (1984-2008), ‘the Unraveling,’ characterized by individualism, social fragmentation, and falling faith in institutions;

The Fourth Turning (2008 to the early 2030s), ‘the Crisis,’ characterized by societal political and cultural upheaval, existential threats, and institutional collapse that destroys old systems and creates new ones, paving the way for a new high.

Most agree with Strauss and Howe that we’re in the Fourth Turning, or as the hymn proclaims, the world is about to turn.

You can’t miss some of the obvious signs of the Fourth Turning. Loss of faith in the Media, Education, Hollywood, the Church, Science, and our political leaders.

A cultural collapse on the political Left

Notably, we’re witnessing a remarkable cultural collapse of the political Left in the U.S. as socialists are in the process of hijacking the Democrat Party, much as Donald Trump and the MAGA movement gained control of the Republican Party a decade ago.

But where Trump governs as a moderate, albeit a boisterous one, the Democratic Socialists demand radical change, such as:

• Defund the police.
• Defund the Department of War.
• Defund immigration enforcement.
• Provide immediate amnesty to all immigrants who entered the U.S. illegally.
• Abolish the Senate.
• Abolish the Supreme Court and the President, replacing them with an “executive and judiciary chosen by and subordinate to Congress.”
• Immediately pass Medicare for All.

In this 4th Turning, if the Democrat Party gets their way, our system of government, which has been the most brilliant in the history of the world, would be torn down and replaced by a socialist ‘utopia.’

Some say it could never happen. But some of it could. The Democratic Socialists dominate the Democrat Party.

Democrats have vowed to end the Senate filibuster, which would allow them to socialize medicine with a single-payer scheme, Medicare For All. They could gain control of the House and Senate as soon as this November, and regain the White House in 2028, at which time a President Ocasio-Cortez would surely sign such a bill into law.

Medicare for All

Medicare For All, the ‘least radical’ proposition among those bulleted above, is still radical, as it would codify taxpayer-funded abortions and the end of conscience protections for pro-life Catholic doctors, nurses, and others who abhor abortion. The song offers hope:

You fixed your sight on your servant’s plight,

and my weakness you did not spurn,

So from east to west shall my name be blessed.

Could the world be about to turn?

The Fourth Turning presents a dichotomy. Young people on the political Left turn away from God at the same time young people on the Right return to their faith, particularly the Catholic Church.

Many on the Left cheered the Palestinian massacre of some 1200 Israeli children, women, and men on October 7th, 2023. They mocked the taking of 254 hostages, most of whom were eventually murdered, and openly promote anti-Semitism. They laughed at the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and were vocally disappointed that multiple assassins failed to kill our president.

The culture has coarsened in the 4th Turning unlike anything this country has ever seen. So much is happing. Iran. Russia. AI. Depopulation. Sexual confusion. What are we to do? The song tells us:

“Though the nations rage from age to age, we remember who holds us fast:
God’s mercy must deliver us from the conqueror’s crushing grasp.
This saving word that our forebears heard is the promise which holds us bound,
‘Til the spear and rod can be crushed by God, who is turning the world around.”

He holds us in the palm of His Hand. Our job? To trust Him.