Resolution for the New Year

 

As we wrap up this very strange year, 2021, with so much great unknown yet looming, I allowed my old brain a few minutes of reflection centered around starting the new year fresh with a resolve to do something. Not sure what.

Then my brain shifted to this age of great delusion and how easy it is to fool the masses. Especially in this digital world where most of what you see or read is either half truth or out and out lie but we have been so conditioned everyone not only knows this, they accept it, joke about it, and still believe the lies anyway. It's a conundrum for sure. 

Then I thought about what made me so cynical about where we have landed in this moment in modernity. It comes down to my long standing preference for what is true over what is fake.

In the early 2000's, for several years, I was not only a participant but also a moderator for a forum that was started in 1999 as a place for Y2K preppers to exchange info. Over time, and after the world did not come to an end, folks just stayed and long distance silent/digital friendships continued on. As is normal with humans, ups and downs of daily life were shared and encouragement and advice offered, just as in normal, in person, friendships. So, it seemed real. 

But, it wasn't. It was essentially just a pleasant illusion/past-time. Though liars can be convincing in person, typed words can more easily mask what one truly feels and thinks and  thus who one really is.

But the day I realized this was after a series of things happened within the setting of the forum. 

First, one Saturday we hosted a silly event, a fake wedding between two members, where a scenario was set up and everyone participated by contributing crazy gifs and pics. It was hilarious until something odd was posted and it revealed that those two members might not be who they claimed to be and mysteriously they never posted again, at least not with their known avatars. It was very strange - as in gov-alphabet-troll strange.

The second thing that happened was when a huge storm hit my area and caused a lot of damage though not where I lived. I logged into the moderator's area and saw one of the members had posted a comment of how worried she was about me given all the damage reported in the national news. "Worried, worried, just worried sick," she lamented. 

I thought, really? Given that we knew each other's email (email was still the preferred contact method back then) my first thought was, if I had seen news of storm damage in her area I bet I would have sent an email checking on her instead of posting a sound-good sentiment in a forum.

At that moment my eyes were opened and I could see it was all unreal. It wasn't genuine friendship. At least not the kind of friendship I think of as being real. The kind I have with flesh and blood relationships. I decided I didn't have time to participate in the illusion anymore and I soon and quietly signed off. No drama or farewell.  My suspicion was soon confirmed - not one email of inquiry about my absence came. 

Apparently, as demonstrated, in the Matrix when part of the illusion disappears it is not missed.

Lesson learned - when I recognize that something is not real or even if I am not relevant in a group think situation I am not the least bit shocked or offended - I'm just gone. 

I conclude that one does not have to be trapped in the Matrix, if you learn to pay attention to the small details, the incongruities, the glitches, however tiny, you find you can choose better what your next best step will be. It is so easy to maneuver humans into believing what they see is authentic, especially given the pervasive acceptance of CGI and Photoshop being as good as reality. But that's not the scary part - reality is somewhat over-rated now even as virtual reality is embraced as the next great thing. That's truly frightening.

Unfortunately illusion can never be real and therefore cannot be sustained. All it takes is a noticeable glitch in the Matrix or someone brave pointing out that the emperor is, in fact, naked.

Or the liars/magicians keep contradicting themselves and changing the illusions until no one pays attention anymore. Humans are easily manipulated but also, like toddlers, they are easily bored too.

I couldn't think of a new year resolution so I offered a a prayer for 2022 instead:

Dear Lord, deliver us from evil, protect us from tragedy, and grant us grace because we mostly don't know what we are doing. Open our eyes to the truth. 

For Him,

Meema

Historically Speaking

 

Historically speaking, the hallmark of a civilization that has peaked and has begun it's decent into oblivion is the marked absence of all things civil. What remains is a return to tribalism. Survival, by any means necessary, becomes the new rule. Because this usually evolves over time, this process of decimation often goes unnoticed until it reaches point of no return and the ancient law of Inevitable Consequence is locked in place. 

Also, I might add, historically speaking, the only way this has ever been adjusted/corrected was by Divine Intervention. So, there's that, but we'll get to that later.

For history buffs, and those who understand the repeating natural cycles that have governed the human condition since Adam and Eve were cast out of paradise because satan convinced Eve she could be a god, there are warning signs that can be noted. The first most damning signal is always, predictably, when humans decide collectively that they can be, you know, gods. This is usually first observed in a rise in the replacement of the One True God with human self-righteousness, fake humility, lack of empathy, and determination to be seen as ultimate authority, which, by the way, are signs of psychopathy.

In a nutshell, whatever is being pushed as ‘for the greater good’ for mankind is just an imitation of God goodness. It’s a human substitute for God identifiable as SELFness which is a little 'g' god and it is straight from satan’s play book. Get humans to believe in their own goodness and they don’t need God.

In short, when a society removes or replaces God, a vacuum is created that sucks in self-determined psychopaths who rise into positions of power which then, predictably, heralds the demise of that society. 

However, hindsight reveals, it is also easily concluded that those civilizations that sacrifice their young rank highest on the list of those that do not end well and often completely disappear only to be speculated about by archeologists digging up small chards, bones and fragments of what once was.

To keep it real, there has never been a faultless era on earth, nor could there be so long as satan and his minions are given free rein to tempt/test us. However, once, even in my lifetime, I can recall there was a better balance of good vs evil. At least, as imperfect as things have always been, bad characters doing very bad things, there were still elements of civility that held it all together for the majority. There was a time when a man's word was his bond, when trust, honor and integrity were reasonably assumed, routinely aspired to, virtues.  

New Normal takes decades to evolve, though, and it requires a sneaky slow disintegration process even those who are educated to the repeating history of humankind do not notice. The first signs are easily ignored until the bad has engulfed the good. 

Just reminiscing about how things once were, within my lifetime, I have some things I find are gone or nearly gone now and, frankly, I miss them. 

First and foremost, I miss common sense, common decency and common morality. These three paragons of all that is civil about civilization, once removed, signal an inevitable unpleasant end. That these also happen to be foundational to Christian values it can't be a shock to point out that all things Christian are now under all out open frontal attack. 

I miss when children were taught to depend on critical thinking rather than feelings and were held accountable instead of coddled and enabled into selfie-centeredness. <---See what I did there? :-)

I miss the days when entertainment did not have to be crude or pornographic and base immorality was not an acceptable and expected theme.

I miss the days when businesses/organizations offered good products and/or services for competitive prices without feeling the need to proclaim or declare a position in any political or current social agenda. 

I miss the time when human life was at least as valued as animal/pet life and human children ranked higher on the scale of life forms to protect than fur babies.

I miss the days when there was no digital social media enabler of anonymous mean-spirited bullying and individual opinion was less championed than truth and facts.

As I mourn all the things I miss about the way it once was, even as I grieve over the predictability of a most likely end of this era, I also know all that really matters is, historically speaking, God does keep a remnant for Himself. 

We have to seek and ask for His Divine Intervention though because, historically speaking, that is the only way to stop and reverse that which satan is relentlessly seeking to destroy.

For Him,

Meema

A Time For Everything

 

Dear Hearts,

I would much prefer to think on the happy things this life and time of year gives us, to focus on the blessings, the joys. But I have also written about how the day does come when things written long ago finally do come to be. There is a time for everything.

I have noticed the variety of approaches to what is happening by those who have ways in which to speak, either in the written word or videos. It seems some are appointed to say uplifting words that give hope, which, of course, is sorely needed in times of stress. There are also those who are burdened to speak out and, in fact, take great risks in doing so. I like to think of myself as being somewhere in the middle ground. A giver of hope as well as a giver of sight. 

I am, by nature, one who looks up and out and can find hope in what often seems hopeless. But I am also a pragmatist and I can't not say what I am now tasked to say. It seems time is speeding up. 

Years ago I once wrote about my affection for traditional holidays like Christmas and Easter and Thanksgiving, in my I Was Just Thinking column. I mostly go mushy and wax philosophical on those kinds of topics. In my reminiscing I shared that, due to the age factor, I have had a plethora of lovely, happy, joyful, holiday experiences but the ones that seem to stand out in my memory are the not so fun ones. All the best ones are now blurred together into a single warm fuzzy haze. So, it's the not happy ones that stand out on their own for reflecting upon, it's usually the ones offering up some kind of lesson to be learned.

Maybe that's the reason, then, for having better recollection of the challenging times in our lives. They are the sometimes harsh opportunities for gaining perspective. and/or wisdom that carries us forward better armed to deal with what life dishes out. 

I've also written about the reality that humans are not good at discernment turned to gratitude unless there is a contrast or something to compare something else against in order to see more wisely. 

We need to feel real hunger to appreciate having a scrap of bread.

We need to experience being freezing cold to be thankful for an old worn out  blanket.

We need to have everything taken from us to realize how good it was having anything we wanted when we wanted it.

We have to be told we can't go anywhere or do anything without proving we are willing to give up our personal/physical rights and/or religious beliefs, or the freedom to buy or sell or earn a living before we grieve over the loss of those basic rights we so took for granted. 

I look forward to this holiday season, 2021, because my practical self suspects it might be the last one I will be able to add to my warm fuzzy collection. I do not see things continuing as they are without a major change that calls us to be braver than we have ever been asked to be, willing to be challenged to stand without wavering. Our mettle tested to it's limits.

I can hear a faint but urgent call to choose Who we will follow, Who we trust.  

While it is still in the gray area of okay, I, for one, give thanks, in this calm before the storm, for the right to choose the One Whom I will serve and claim it out loud without fear of being canceled, condemned or imprisoned. 

For Him,

Meema

Michael Boldea is one who is tasked with speaking out and he is well worth paying attention to:

Bondage