Persecution comes, but it is most likely to be regional. A wise person can choose where to be, and where to raise their children. This is not something to delegate, but something to think carefully about. At times the urbanite will have to flee, and the rural person may find themselves being challenged — even invaded by foreigners, of another citizenship or of another way of life.

And when this happens, you will feel you are alone.

1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7) 8-15a

1Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. 2Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.” 3Then he was afraid; he got up and fled for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongs to Judah; he left his servant there.

4But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree. He asked that he might die: “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” 5Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep. Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him, “Get up and eat.” 6He looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again. 7The angel of the LORD came a second time, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” 8He got up, and ate and drank; then he went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God. 9At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.

Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

11He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; 12and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. 13When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14He answered, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” 15Then the LORD said to him, “Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram.

James 1:1-18

¹James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings.

²My brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of any kind, consider it nothing but joy, ³because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance; ⁴and let endurance have its full effect, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking in nothing.

⁵If any of you is lacking in wisdom, ask God, who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly, and it will be given you. ⁶But ask in faith, never doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind; 7, 8for the doubter, being double-minded and unstable in every way, must not expect to receive anything from the Lord.

⁹Let the believer who is lowly boast in being raised up, ¹⁰and the rich in being brought low, because the rich will disappear like a flower in the field. ¹¹For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the field; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. It is the same with the rich; in the midst of a busy life, they will wither away.

¹²Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. ¹³No one, when tempted, should say, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴But one is tempted by one’s own desire, being lured and enticed by it; ¹⁵then, when that desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and that sin, when it is fully grown, gives birth to death. ¹⁶Do not be deceived, my beloved.

¹⁷Every generous act of giving, with every perfect gift, is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. ¹⁸In fulfilment of his own purpose he gave us birth by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Now, praise God, we do not have to deal with an Ahab. The current bureaux are oppressive enough. And we will be tempted by that which calls to us — from Twinkies to 50 Shades. But we can chose, to some extent, how to live. As Bill Price notes about Washington (the state).

From any one perspective, it’s difficult to get a sense of the changing texture of the American population, but if one avoids the main routes, as I was forced to do by a collapsed bridge, and travels through every stage from city center to wilderness an emergent cultural bifurcation reveals itself. The contrast between central Seattle and the growing exurban neighborhoods is stark. Instead of rainbow flags adorning shops and homes, the stars and stripes flies above. Instead of dogs in parks, there are children. Community churches in the city tend to be unobtrusive and tucked away, whereas they are prominent in the “invisible” communities. In fact, what may best characterize the difference between urban and non-urban America is that those things that are hidden in the city are on display in the country, and vice versa. And, for all I know, the city is as invisible to the people in the country as their communities are to us city dwellers.

So how is this relevant to men in the US? It suggests that we have a choice, and perhaps more autonomy in living the kind of life we prefer than we did in the past. Now that it’s clear that two Americas are emerging, each with its own perks and drawbacks, we can make use of this new reality to pursue our life goals.

If you’d like to raise a family, for example, it would be best to arrange your life so that you could live outside of the urban cultural area. If, on the other hand, you have no desire to get married and raise children, the urban culture offers more in the way of companionship and convenience for the single man (although this is not a hard and fast rule). Cities obviously offer more sexual variety and opportunity, but they tend to limit reproductive potential. There are many other differences. Do you prefer “ethnic” food or fresh food? Do you like a quiet afternoon fishing in the river, or a shopping excursion downtown? Do you like being free from official oversight, or do you want a cop on every corner to keep you safe?

I made a choice about seven years ago. I was offered a job in a cold, small, university town. I took it, in part because It met my criteria for an ideal job (I was being paid to do research I was doing without pay) and because it had good schools, minimal commutes, and did not have the social and racial tensions that I could see starting in the City I was born in. I moved to the provinces. Deliberately.

And as this crisis develops in the Western World, It is best to stay away from crowds and capitals. Be a little rural, a little unsophisticated, and where it is easier to be righteous.