War!

(Ephesians 6:12) For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

There’s an old quote attributed to Einstein that says, “I don’t know what weapons will be used in WW3 but WW4 will be fought with sticks and stones.” 

Think about that. It succinctly sums up the way human civilization rises and eventually falls often under the weight of it’s own advances. Why is that? Progress, invention, forward movement–good sounding words each and all, but history, found in the archaeological ruins of former great societies reminds us over and over that no matter how elevated and sophisticated those of an era think themselves to be, there is always a tipping point where upward positive movement falters and what was intended for good becomes bad.  

What remains after collapse is the bones to pick over by some future generation. 

Scripture tells us that we, as followers of Christ, can expect tribulation in this world. We can count on being troubled for His sake and that’s why we are to consider ourselves in this world but not of it. I don’t know if you have noticed but there is a concerted effort now to stamp out Christianity. It used to be subtle but it seems there’s little hidden now but it’s a war being fought in the quiet places, in small increments. A little here a little there, like threads being pulled from a tapestry. Not enough damage to see but enough to weaken the fabric so that it can one day easily be torn apart.

This agenda is being implemented by unwitting agents who truly believe it’s their good and righteous idea. They enact laws that sound so egalitarian. They speak out in fierce determination to keep things separate or in the inverse, to cause all things to amalgamate. At all cost there is concerted effort to make sure no Christian values are allowed to have rights. But only Christian values, have you noticed? Everyone is entitled to rights except Christians. When the call goes out to protect and preserve cultural interests it never includes Christianity. Traditions and precepts long attributed to Christian culture are no longer welcome in this new enlightened society.

Unfortunately this isn’t new. In fact, history teaches that the benchmarks for every failed civilization are essentially the same. Sexual perversion, blood lust and the worship of idols, all of which are counter to primary Christian values,  top the list that heralds the end. 

When a society gives over to the anything goes mentality, that society has signed its death warrant. For many years now the downward progression of America has been compared to the Great Roman Empire but, in truth, the pattern is similar to all rise and fall stories. And this time it’s not just America. That’s what is different in this age - the whole world is involved.

And so, the dark principalities that work overtime seeking to eradicate anything that points to accountability to the natural laws of God have succeeded in speeding up time. Satan is the father of psychopathy so he thinks he has a chance to win this so might as well get to it.

Like all those who live inside their own alternate reality Satan is wrong. But Satan being wrong doesn’t mean we, who seek to live for Christ, will not be subject to all manner of tribulation. When the news is nothing but bad, fear not. Stand. Count yourself as honored. 

 (Acts 5:41) They therefore departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.  

For Him,

Meema

The Easter Story

As Told By A Child

Matthew 28:1) Now late on the sabbath day, as it began to dawn toward the first [day] of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.  (28:2) And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled away the stone, and sat upon it.  (28:3) His appearance was as lightning, and his raiment white as snow:  (28:4) and for fear of him the watchers did quake, and became as dead men.  (28:5) And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye; for I know that ye seek Jesus, who hath been crucified.  (28:6) He is not here; for he is risen, even as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  (28:7) And go quickly, and tell his disciples, He is risen from the dead; and lo, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you.

For Him,

Meema

  

An Open Letter

Dear Young Me,

I had an idea, much like you used to have several times a day. I wanted to do something, dust off and access some old skills and tools you once so mindlessly took for granted. I sketched my basic idea on paper, made the materials list, as you always did before, and then gathered them from different sources, including a few from dusty shelves in the basement.

I pulled out my old machine, the one you used every day. The one that hasn’t seen the light of day for a decade. Sitting in front of it I had a rush of familiarity but was flummoxed by the lack of recall of where the on/off switch was. Then I remembered, oh, no switch, just the foot peddle.

Okay, everything together, let’s do this! I thought. But time had done it’s worst and something had either crumbled from age or froze. The foot peddle didn’t work. Not to be thwarted, I came up with plan B, as you always had done, and pulled out my other machine. 

[I’d like to insert here that I do not understand how those two devises got so heavy in the last ten years!]

All set I began my sewing project. But what I had visualized, following the model of your productive years, did not seem to conclude with the finished item I expected. Plus I was sweating. I never sweat nowadays, or, more to the point, I don’t do anything to cause sweating.

Pulling and tugging on the large fabric panel called upon the use of muscles I had forgotten I once needed to do the job. There was some spontaneous twitching and trembling that gave me cause for alarm. Then the bending and stooping required as I laid out the panel on the floor to reconfigure it met with some complaining from other now soft spots in my back and gut. 

All in all I am forced to admit I had thoughtlessly stepped back in time without life support, like floating out in space into no oxygen. And I had to admit, much as it hurt, I can’t do this sort of thing ever again. Ever. Again. Try that on for size. There’s always the BIG MOMENT in the timeline where one can definitively say, this was the point of nevermore. This was one of those.

Sitting in a state of semi-depression combined with annoyance my still busy brain made some sad then versus now comparisons. But soon the angst gave way to fuzzy memories.  Regardless, one thing’s for sure, I remember you very well. 

All the good things and not so good. The semi-got-lucky smart things. The incredibly dumb things. Most of all the unstoppable energy and willingness to try, even after many failures. This stands out above all the lack of worldly success. You always gave it your all. You dived fearlessly into the middle and worked your way out to both ends.

I also remember the doubt that lurked in the shadows stalking you. The assumption that you were never going to be outstanding. But you never let it stop you. You did things, tried things, made things, planned and executed things anyway. You decided you could only compete with your own personal best, not the world. Never the world. It was always the doing that mattered more than the outcome. It was never the thing itself but the problem or challenge to be solved that kept you moving. 

How I’d love to sit and talk candidly with you in all your stages, your pre-mom life full of vague dreams when you might have planned better and your mom stage full of stress and no light at the end of the tunnel when you might have been more patient. I’d tell you to hang on and take it a day at a time, focus on the moment, on what is happening not what isn’t. 

Though I would never say, ‘enjoy it - it goes so fast’ because I know that’s trite and meaningless when you are in the very middle of the mess that never seems to end. I won’t say it even though it’s true because you’ll find out one day anyway. Everyone does. I might offer a warning to try to avoid impulsive choices you might regret one day which is a wisdom hard to say, even harder to hear or follow. You need a measure of intuition and forward thinking, and an active prayer life. Mostly an active prayer life and faith.

You see, one day, you’ll wake up with aches you went to bed with. You’ll have grown grandchildren whose childhoods went even faster than their parents. Regardless your body letting you down your brain will still function in much the same way it did but you’ll have some hard earned wisdom you can’t share and very little else to do with your mental energy. You’ll feel frustrated but it is what it is, the cycle of life - live long enough to know some things you could have used when you were younger but that no longer matters and you wouldn’t have listened to it anyway.

So, it’s okay that we can’t talk because I can’t share with you how to get the wisdom, you’ll have to figure that out for yourself, one lesson at a time. What you will discover, which is inevitable, is that the wisdom that comes from living life out loud cannot be passed backward nor forward. It is merely the end product of doing, trying, failing, semi-succeeding. But while it belongs to you, it’s not a resource for others to tap into because the irony of wisdom acquisition is that it only matters in the learning mode, not the reflecting stage.

Love,

Old Me

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For Him,

Meema

Revelation!

Though I am currently reading a three volume set by William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armour, Michele Morin teased me with an introduction to The Heart of Revelation by J. Scott Duvall (you can read her masterful review HERE) and so, even though I didn’t have my ipad with me this weekend, I couldn’t wait–I purchased the Kindle version and downloaded it to my iPhone. 

Let me say this about that: I’ve never attempted to read a book on my cell phone but it actually wasn’t so bad and certainly was an acceptable alternative in a pinch. As small as type can be on a weensy devise, I still was able to blow through the 195 pages it in a few hours. Who knew?

I must grudgingly concede, mark one up for modern technology. 

Now, while I can’t begin to add to or improve Michelle’s review, I do want to share what this book did for me.

First of all, having been an outlier all of my life, one who simply cannot see things the way the mainstream collective does, I have had long dry periods along the way when I was sorely challenged to hold fast to what I believe and/or know. It’s only human when no one else seems to understand as you do that dark clouds of doubt can easily form. 

Five years ago I, while quietly reading The Revelation for the umpteenth time, closed my Bible and prayed. “Lord God, I just want to know the truth whatever it is. Even if it’s nothing like everyone seems to believe. Will You please guide me to it?”

Something settled in on my spirit. I realized that I was on the brink of something. I admit at first I was scared. But I’m nothing if not tenacious. I did ask if I had to share what I might learn. The answer was, not without permission. I wasn’t asking to start something, you see. I just wanted closure on questions that long accepted answers did not fit. I have learned that maturing in the spirit opens one up to greater understanding of God’s mysteries and this is why reading Scripture over time reveals new insights when one is ready to receive them.

So, I began with certain Scriptures in mind from both old and new testament and I read all of Revelation in one sitting and then a few days later I did it again. After a few weeks some things began to stand out for me. Oh! I said out loud, more than once.

I took my time and when I felt I had received what I was able to receive I eventually (several years later) wrote my experience down and created a pdf file I titled Where is Wisdom?. I have rarely shared this treatise with anyone else. And here is why:

I just wanted to know and so I asked. If what I was given is true then anyone else can do the same. Apparently J. Scott Duvall did too. Though his book and my 33 page essay come to the same conclusions, we each came with different approaches so our questions and therefore our focuses were just slight variations on the main theme. But even so, his analogies were so often similar to mine there were times when I stood up, and shouted, “YES!” 

Fortunately, no one else was in the room to question my sanity.

Here I am now completely flummoxed and can’t begin to express my shock and awe. At the end, as I closed the Kindle app on my phone, I didn’t know whether to laugh or sob. Someone else, a someone with credentials and a mandate to use them has put in print the truth I was given in my private meeting with God. 

Confirmation! What an amazing feeling! I truly am stunned. You can know what you know, but if you can't share it or prove it, when someone else says it, you feel corroborated. Or something.

I’m not being all that coherent here so I leave it at this - ask and ye shall be given - but ask with an open mind, emptied of long-held manmade doctrine, and a spirit willing to hear, and you can walk through a door you didn’t even know was there. 

And read the book–if you dare. 

For Him,

Meema

Independent

I have a theory. We have become, in our blind haste into mindless progress, dependent, vulnerable and essentially helpless because we don't have to think for ourselves anymore. We have worshipped at the alter of the dubious gods of convenience and speed until we have become enslaved to the concept that any innovation that removes us farther away from effort is better. 

At the risk of being labeled ‘anti-progressive’ I confess out loud I see immeasurable damage done in the past thirty years to basic human resourcefulness and general problem solving skills simply because we have capitulated to the system and/or advertising that brainwashes and manipulates our thought processes. What intangibles in terms of instincts and creativity have been exchanged for nothing more than quick results? 

Years ago I taught people how to make things. The first obstacle I encountered was the attitude that remains pervasive in this electronic culture. "I'm not creative" is what I’d hear over and over again. I would sigh and respond to this by asking this question, “Did you believe that when you were a child? Were you born that way, or was it leached out of you over time because you never had to use your creativity?” 

I have never seen a new human who wasn't curious and inventive. I have, however, met plenty of grown humans who have forgotten this. Creativity goes hand in hand with independent thinking.

I realize my philosophy on this issue won't set well with techies who make their living using their creativity to make devises that ‘make life better’. But what about the end user who loses, in bits and pieces, day by day, the ability to think and do for himself. It is a subtle erosion, almost imperceptible and fraught with hidden danger. 

For example, I chose not to have an ATM card early on, because I could see down the road that I would become dependent on it. Have you ever been in a hurry for cash and then had your card refused because the magnetic strip was damaged? A little thing you say? But without this crutch, I am responsible to myself to remember to plan ahead and go to the bank when it is open. Call it a routine exercising of my embedded memory chips. It could certainly be argued that a debit card is only a tool and should be used with prudence. But, in general, people are too busy and lazy to be prudent so they allow themselves to be the used instead of remaining the user; controllee instead of controller. 

Inch by inch the condition of modernity is causing us to lose our grip on self-responsibility and accountability because it is easier and indeed faster to let someone or something else do the thinking and ultimately shoulder the blame when something goes wrong. "I can't believe this stupid machine is out of order and now where am I going to get money?!" instead of "Oh, man, I should have stopped at the bank on my way home!".

Can't stop progress, can't stop progress, I can hear the mantra now. But I'm not suggesting we stop progress and return to the dark ages. I am only saying I see the handwriting on the wall and I am making small choices for myself based on what I see and know about human nature, most particularly my own. This includes not embracing every innovation just because it’s ‘new’ and purports to make my life easier and more convenient .

So, I ask questions. Will this modern convenience contribute to making my brain turn to mush? More importantly does it prep me for blindly accepting things I should not? And yes, I'm a maverick, perhaps dangerous even, to hold fast to independence and self-reliance. But I trust the old axiom about being true to one's self. 

And what I know about myself is that I feel the most secure and less at the mercy of the misjudgment of others when I think independently regardless how far outside the box that puts me. While this often makes me odd man out, frankly, I’m used to it. Okay, so no one gets me. I’ve made peace with that. At this point it feels more like a badge of courage than rejection.

Plus, as it turns out, I have a mandate, from the One I truly trust, to be in this world, but not of it. 

For Him,

Meema