It was the best of times. A time of prosperity and confidence, a time of relative peace, a time when most everything looked pretty good, a time when most everyone felt pretty good. It was a time maybe not unlike our own time.

In such a time, among such a people, naysayers are hardly welcome. Who wants to hear about the bad that could be coming in the future when what’s going on in the present looks so good? Who wants to hear protests when the prevailing winds of prosperity are blowing so strongly? Who wants to hear criticism and condemnation when it should be obvious to anyone that things have never been better?

It’s hard to be a preacher when all seems well. Who needs a word from the Lord when our own words appear to be quite sufficient? Who needs to acknowledge a creator when the works of …