The Coming Times ^TM
 

Mary

Are you ready

Scribe

And I take a deep breath for courage

And say

Yes Mother, I am ready

Mary

Good darling

Peer in

Take your time

Simply look

Scribe

And I vibrate Spiritual Eye some more

And I silently beseech him to look and see and show me

And I sense his agreement to do so

And this reassures me

And I look at the globe

And this miniature globe on my Mother’s necklace gets larger

It gets larger and larger

It is now the size of a basketball

And yes I take the basketball in my hands

And I look at it wonderingly

I look at one part of the globe

And then another

And then a third

And I take my time

And all I am seeing right now is the skyscape and the land masses

And it is the familiar Earth I know and love so well

And I look at it, and I look at it

And I take my time looking at it, for I enjoy looking at it

And my Mother has me stop in France

France?

Haven’t we looked at Europe already

But France it is

And I see France trying for dear life to hold on to its identity

To its culture, to its beloved language, to its food

To its way of life, to its self-identity as France

And I see all this slipping away from the Frenchman

And he tries to hold on to it

And it slips away from him yet

And he holds on ever tighter

And there is nothing to be done

It slips away, it slips away, it slips away

His beloved and beautiful language is replaced by the ubiquitous English

Despite all his attempts to create a French word for every new English word

Despite all his attempt to remember the French word

For every English word that is used

Despite all his attempt to educate and communicate in this

The most beautiful of languages

The French language itself, gradually, steadily declines in use

And is replaced by the language of youth

The language of the world

The one language, English

For English is being adopted worldwide

Why even the Chinese, with their great numbers, are adopting English

From the ubiquitous OK!
To the technological terms

To the terms that the youth of the world take up

They are all English

They are all English

They are all English

American English to be more precise

And the French food

The flavorful, delicious, exquisite cuisine of France

Who has time for it anymore

For France must compete in this new global economy

And so France must, to survive

Run as hard and as fast and as at relentless a pace

As do the Americans, as do the Japanese, as do the Chinese

And in spite of their attempt to not indulge in this rat-race way of life

How does one keep a company alive in this global world

If one does not do so

For the Frenchman is prudent with his money

No he does not have a great deal of disposable income

And can one blame him for purchasing the cheaper products

That arrive from China

Can one blame French youth, and yes French companies

For purchasing the latest and greatest technological toys

That arrive from Japan

Can one blame French youth for adopting all the popular icons of America

Be it blue jeans, Coca-Cola, the movies

And oh gosh, horror of horrors, McDonald’s

And now even the adults stop on the way home from work

To grab a McDonald's meal

For who has time anymore for slow cooking

Who has time

And yes, the French language is taught in the schools

And the newspapers and magazines are of course all in French

And the government even attempts to simplify the language a little

Simplify its spelling

While yet keeping the beauty and elegance of their beloved language

But it is hopeless

American English creeps in like air pollution

It first displays in the words of the people

Then in the writings of the people

And then in the writings of the less scholarly journals and magazines

And then finally even in the most respected newspapers and journals

For they must communicate with their audience

The American English words creep in and continue to creep in

And continue to creep in

And France fears losing its self-identity to the European community

And France fears losing its self-identity to the Moslem community

Residing within it as French citizens

And France fears losing its self-identity to the refugee community

Scattered throughout the countryside within their white tents

And France fears losing its economic power

To the current powerhouses of the world

The United States, Japan, and China

And France fears losing its economic power to the countries

That are striving ever so intently and relentlessly to be powerhouses

Be it Germany or the eastern European countries

Will Russia also dominate

And where will France and the French way of life

Fit into this new world order

How can France survive as France

How can France survive as France

How can France survive as France

And France feels as though it is drowning

It is a boat sinking and it is bailing water out of the boat with a little bucket

And the boat continues to sink

Its language, its beloved language!

Oh my God!

Its beautiful, elegant, refined language

Being replaced by the sloppy, careless, loose English

Where words change meaning

And can mean one thing and then mean another

And there is no structure and there is no order

And all is fluid

And all is fluid

And all is fluid

And the delicious, nutritious, flavorful French cuisine

Is replaced by the bland, devoid of all nutrition, high in empty calories

Completely unsatisfying American junk ‘food products’

And the collective French stomach heaves

And yet McDonald's spring up everywhere and are successful

Yes they are

They are successful

And have no trouble attracting customers to its stores

No trouble at all

And perhaps worst of all

The French very way of life is being transformed

For it has to be